No hablo ingl

[MrsTaborJet]

It's actually not that hard to learn. I took one year of it my freshman year. I could speak it fairly well but just thought the class was boring as sin so I didn't sign up for it again. I have since forgotten most of it although I can still pick up on things here and there.

Hola Alk. Yo le quiero como un cartel, pero pienso que los Patriotas chupan pelotas peludas grandes de asno. Alg

[war ensemble]

I'm hoping Spanish will be easy to learn; I need to take two semesters of any language to graduate. I had Spanish in 7th and 8th grade, but since I didn't have any language in High School, I need it now. Damn that HS! I'm choosing Spanish for a wide variety of reasons, mostly I think it will be easiest to learn and it will be more useful than any other language. I have no problem with learning other languages, but I feel strongly that if you want to live in this country and become a citizen of this country, then learn this country's main language.

Wow, that's the first High School I've heard of that didn't make you take at least one language. The only other language besides Spanish that would be very useful in America is Latin, depending on what you plan on being when you grow up. Learning the roots are good for loads of medical terms, and helps with simple vocab by just using the different roots within a word to give you an idea of what the word means. As for that last statement, many Spanish-speaking immigrants coming over to America aren't even in the process for citizenship as they came over illegally, but even they should learn the language, especially if all the amnesty acts and everything get their way. If I had the choice, I'd take both languages.

[Alk]

Hola Alk. Yo le quiero como un cartel, pero pienso que los Patriotas chupan pelotas peludas grandes de asno. Alg

[124]

Hola Alk. Yo le quiero como un cartel, pero pienso que los Patriotas chupan pelotas peludas grandes de asno. Alg

[MrsTaborJet]

I'm flattered Mrs.T but even though Mr. T isn't home I'm a happily married man.

You were right, you really do not know Spanish!

[MrsTaborJet]

Wow, that's the first High School I've heard of that didn't make you take at least one language. The only other language besides Spanish that would be very useful in America is Latin, depending on what you plan on being when you grow up. Learning the roots are good for loads of medical terms, and helps with simple vocab by just using the different roots within a word to give you an idea of what the word means. As for that last statement, many Spanish-speaking immigrants coming over to America aren't even in the process for citizenship as they came over illegally, but even they should learn the language, especially if all the amnesty acts and everything get their way. If I had the choice, I'd take both languages.

The two years in middle school sufficed I guess. Hell, I wasn't going to question it, but it was offered but not required apparently. My HS had two paths you could take; a technical path and a business path. Can't recall the differences, but I chose business and everything was "Business English", "Business Math", etc.

Latin isn't going to help on my resume and I'm sure not headed for a medical career. And let's not even get on the topic of illegals! But I do agree, it will only serve them to learn the language. No one is telling them to ditch their heritage/culture what have you. But learn the language!

[war ensemble]

You were right, you really do not know Spanish!

That's what I was thinking.

Yeah, Spanish seems the best option then. Making a freshman in High School choose between a technical or business path seems harsh to me, I'd want to go down both roads. Haha. Just get it done with, and it's way more practical. (In America)

[MrsTaborJet]

That's what I was thinking.

Yeah, Spanish seems the best option then. Making a freshman in High School choose between a technical or business path seems harsh to me, I'd want to go down both roads. Haha. Just get it done with, and it's way more practical. (In America)

If memory serves, we had to make that decision (along with our counselor) in our Junior year.

[war ensemble]

If memory serves, we had to make that decision (along with our counselor) in our Junior year.

That would make more sense. If I had to make that decision freshman year I'd choose whichever sounded cooler at the time. As long as you don't regret what you picked your fine, I guess. Nowadays people are going through 2-3 years of college undecided before they decide to major in anything. I gotta go and sleep. Getting up in 4 and a half hours while on about 3 hours is not going to be fun. I can't wait until summertime.

[Arsis]

Hola Alk. Yo le quiero como un cartel, pero pienso que los Patriotas chupan pelotas peludas grandes de asno. Algún día usted verá la luz y nos unirá. ¡El infierno, usted gasta todo su tiempo libre en una tabla de Jet, arriba qué está con eso? !!!

Hello Alk. I want him as a placard, but I think that the Patriots suck large hairy balls of a burro. Some day you will see the light and will unite with us. The hell, you spend all its free time in a board of Jet, what is up with that? !!!

[MrsTaborJet]

Hello Alk. I want him as a placard, but I think that the Patriots suck large hairy balls of a burro. Some day you will see the light and will unite with us. The hell, you spend all its free time in a board of Jet, what is up with that? !!!

I did the reverse translation too and it came out a bit different than what I intended... but it's close!

[Green DNA]

I must be getting old. In one thread I agreed with SJ and Barton..

Hey Drago, you can come down off your high horse anytime now. My ancestors didn't speak English when they got here. I wish I did speak Italian now but it wasn't an option. My garndparents didn't teach it to any of their children. It was English in America, and thats what they wanted their children to speak.

You're English isn't too bad Al, I can pretty much understand you most of the time.

[124]

The only line I actually understood in four years of Spanish:

Tengo los gatos en los pantalones (and its from the freakin' movie Blue Streak)

[Green DNA]

Yeah, pronunciation, spelling, and meaning all share slight variations from Mexico, Spain, and everywhere in Latin America. For instance, pronunciation of "ll" in Spain's Spanish is similar to our "y" in yellow. In Latin America that same "ll" is pronounced as a "j" or "h" sound. I prefer Spain's Spanish, it just seems cleaner and, after all, is the original. What's funny is Mexican Spanish does a great job of cheating the system and adding quite a few more words like la banana, etc. that are just english words with its proper spanish article put in front of it. I guess that is the one influence America has had on them. It's just like English and almost every other language, (Italian, etc) where two versions have adapted to their unique cultures. They can still fully understand each other, or they should be able to.

As for 124, if you know English or any other romance language, Spanish should not be hard for you to learn at all. No offense. It's just really comparable to english and everything you do is very similar, there's no real steep learning curve. The grammar is fairly simple, there's nothing too out of the ordinary when compared to english. Plus you can understand a load of it by just listening to the language and thinking of what word it sounds similar to, like la rosa=rose and el banco= bank. It's nothing like Chinese where your main focus is memorizing and basically learning two languages at once or even the likes of Greek. I'd compare Spanish to German, you shouldn't have a problem with either. It's nothing like the five declensions and their variations present in Latin which is pretty different from what we are used to in English.

Sounds easy, I should be speaking French, German and Spanish by September

[DHJF]

Je parle Francais un peu. Mange merde.

[MrsTaborJet]

Hello Alk. I want him as a placard [read = I like you as a poster], but I think that the Patriots suck large hairy balls of a burro [read = donkey, but I think you got the idea ]. Some day you will see the light and will unite with us. The hell, you spend all its [read = your] free time in a board of Jet [read = Jets board], what is up with that? !!!

[MrsTaborJet]

Je parle Francais un peu. Mange merde.

{I speak Francais a little. Eat ****. }

Yeah, I'd say a little bit.

[SouthernJet]

hey just have this bookmarked on your Blackberry,,u will survive

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

[DHJF]

{I speak Francais a little. Eat ****. }

Yeah, I'd say a little bit.

[MrsTaborJet]

[Alk]

And you dare mock me? My translation was much closer.

[jetophile]

Being an American, I should do what any American worth their salt would do: Bomb the living sh!t out of this thread. Just because I can. I think I'll go bomb Liechtenstein after that.

[SouthernJet]

North Carolina finally figured it out!!!!

Whats whacky is they talk about ways to beat system,,how about just becoming a citizen,,the old fashioned way,,legally. Then you have nothing to worry about..Oh thats right, we want t ochange our laws to protect the guilty

Published: Jun 01, 2008 12:30 AM

Modified: Jun 01, 2008 04:49 AM

More illegal immigrants driving without N.C. license

Kristin Collins, Staff Writer

BENSON - Luz Gonzalez used to take spur-of-the-moment trips to the beach. Now, she is afraid to drive to the doctor for checkups on her new pregnancy.

She and her husband, Ismael, can no longer have a savings account or a car registered in their names. Every time they drive to church, they watch for the flash of blue lights in the mirror.

The Gonzalezes, who identified themselves by only one of their two surnames, are among many illegal immigrants in North Carolina who are beginning a new life -- one without driver's licenses.

A 2006 state law made it impossible for illegal immigrants to renew their licenses. The change was talked about mostly as a tool to combat terrorism -- several of the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks had licenses -- but it has created a crisis in the Hispanic community and a potential hazard on the roads.

As licenses issued under the old rules expire, advocates and law enforcement authorities say many illegal immigrants, who number an estimated 300,000 in North Carolina, are now driving without licenses or insurance.

"They do not want to be driving without licenses, but it's coming to a point where they can't do things the right way," said Tony Asion, president of the Hispanic advocacy group El Pueblo. "Realistically, you're not going to ride a bicycle all around the state."

Without licenses, they are unable to register cars or get insurance, and they are not tested on their knowledge of North Carolina traffic laws. Hispanic advocates say the law makes the roads more dangerous and could drive up insurance rates. Insurance companies charge their customers a fee to cover accidents caused by uninsured drivers, and the fee increases when there are more uninsured drivers on the roads.

States that deny licenses to their large illegal immigrant populations, such as California, typically have high rates of uninsured driving. About a quarter of drivers in California have no insurance.

As the rules in North Carolina have tightened, sheriffs concerned about illegal immigration are setting up random license checkpoints and sometimes jailing immigrants for driving without licenses. Those who go to jail risk deportation.

The number of charges for driving without a license is rising, and the share of Hispanics charged is soaring, according to a News & Observer analysis of data from the Administrative Office of the Courts. Hispanics were charged more than any other ethnic group, including whites, even though Hispanics make up less than 7 percent of the state's population. In 2007, 44 percent of charges were against Hispanics, up from 35 percent in 2003.

Some sheriffs say they hope those hardships will prompt illegal residents to leave.

"It's about high time that the DMV make it more strict," said Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell. "We have bowed down. You go to DMV now and everything is Spanish, and people are tired of it. This is America."

Bizzell said he has a squad of deputies assigned to setting up license checkpoints and "wolfpacking," a term he uses to refer to sending marked cars to drive the streets of a small community. Most of those arrested without licenses are Mexican, he said.

"We're trying to make it a little more inconvenient for them," Bizzell said of illegal immigrants.

Sending a message

For years, North Carolina purposely made it easy for illegal immigrants to get licenses. The Division of Motor Vehicles accepted many forms of identification that illegal immigrants had access to, including identification cards issued by the Mexican government.

Immigrant advocates said the idea was to ensure that a surging immigrant population had insurance and understood driving laws.

"The question for us as a state is, do we want people who are unlicensed on the road?" said Andrea Baz

[Garb]

People can assimilate without losing their culture, you know.

Here's a personal synopsis of my families assimilation:

My Dad and Mother both immigrated here when they were in their late teens. Dad first, at 19 and mom three years later at 18. They both had respective families here and made a life for themselves. They met, fell in love, married. Neither of them spoke English. Both went to ESL classes (yes, they had them back then) and my Dad went on to earn his GED (he left Italy's equivalent of high school to help the family financially). Then he bacame a naturalized citizen of the United States of America and he's damn proud of it. He's damn proud of his heritage too.

I was born, to a family that spoke only Italian at home. Fast forward five years, First day of kindergarden. The only English I spoke was what I thought I learned watching Speed Racer and the Flintstones. Hello and thank you - and not much more. You learn fast though when you HAVE TO. I remember having to have after school tutoring in first grade. I was having issues with the "th" sound. You see, there is no "th" in Italian. Again, you learn fast when you HAVE TO.

Anyway, Dad speaks mostly English now and went on to build a very successful business. Me? I still speak a little Italian....but not nearly as much as I should. The family still has massive x-mas eve gatherings. We still have the biggest veggie gardens, gather to make supresata in Auntie's collosal basement and make our own wine. You don't have to lose your "culture" when you become "American."

This all transpired because those before me HAD TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE. They understood that they were now in "America" where English is the first language. Learn it. Love it. As much as where you came from.

Thing is, nowadays people don't have to learn it. Saying they will not be "americanized" I call it lazy -arse bullsh*t. And you have the liberal hacks to thank for this because they are doing nothing but allienating a large segment of the population and enabling another.

I feel really strongly about this subject. If I can do it, so can everyone else. I 'aint that special.

[DMaynard]

I speak a second language. Pig Latin. I don't think I am smart enough to learn a third.

[124]

I missed this thread.

[GM]

Devil's advocate: There is no "Official Language" of the USA.

Although I agree 1,000% that if you live here you should learn English.

Florida passed a law saying English is the official language

[bitonti]

if you live in Miami and you don't want to learn Spanish to conduct business, here's your options: - learn or move. get a life. Crying about it helps no one, least of all the crier.

in the big picture who really cares? maybe 1000 years from now we will all be Earthicans and Spanglish will be the official language.

[Alk]

if you live in Miami and you don't want to learn Spanish to conduct business, here's your options: - learn or move. get a life. Crying about it helps no one, least of all the crier.

in the big picture who really cares? maybe 1000 years from now we will all be Earthicans and Spanglish will be the official language.

So we need to conform because they want to move into our coutry illegally? Sorry man but that's bass ackwards. I think I'll move to mexico and demand that they speak to me in English. That's what I'll do. I wonder how far that will fly.

[PeterNorth09]

So we need to conform because they want to move into our coutry illegally? Sorry man but that's bass ackwards. I think I'll move to mexico and demand that they speak to me in English. That's what I'll do. I wonder how far that will fly.

You know this country doesn't have an official language?

I just love all this Nativist every doggone person must learn to speak English. You know who are the lazy people? It's not the illegal immigrants who break their ass for $2 an hour and for the most part actually learn to speak English and are the reason why you can buy groceries for realtively cheap at the supermarket. It's all these hee-haw motherf_ckers who are too lazy to learn how to say "Where is the bathroom?" in spanish but aren't lazy enough to whine and complain non-stop about how English should be the only language spoken in this country.

[Arsis]

You know this country doesn't have an official language?

I just love all this Nativist every doggone person must learn to speak English. You know who are the lazy people? It's not the illegal immigrants who break their ass for $2 an hour and for the most part actually learn to speak English and are the reason why you can buy groceries for realtively cheap at the supermarket. It's all these hee-haw motherf_ckers who are too lazy to learn how to say "Where is the bathroom?" in spanish but aren't lazy enough to whine and complain non-stop about how English should be the only language spoken in this country.

yeah, because 16 years old wouldn't do that job for minimum wage. We existed for a very long time without slave labor we could do it again just fine. It would be less money seeing as how they wouldn't be an enormous drain on other resources anymore.

[Barton]

if you live in Miami and you don't want to learn Spanish to conduct business, here's your options: - learn or move. get a life. Crying about it helps no one, least of all the crier.

in the big picture who really cares? maybe 1000 years from now we will all be Earthicans and Spanglish will be the official language.

Really really easy for you to say. Tell that to a small business owner who's 55 years old and is struggling to pay the bills, doesnt have the time or sources to learn another language, and is seeing profits dwindle each month because of it.

[PeterNorth09]

Really really easy for you to say. Tell that to a small business owner who's 55 years old and is struggling to pay the bills, doesnt have the time or sources to learn another language, and is seeing profits dwindle each month because of it.

It doesn't take that long to learn another language, especially one like Spanish that is actually pretty similar to English. hey, I managed to learn alot of Arabic and Farsi in a short amount of time and those languages are completely different frmo English.

BTW, Chad Pennington is a good quarterback.

[Alk]

You know this country doesn't have an official language?

I just love all this Nativist every doggone person must learn to speak English. You know who are the lazy people? It's not the illegal immigrants who break their ass for $2 an hour and for the most part actually learn to speak English and are the reason why you can buy groceries for realtively cheap at the supermarket. It's all these hee-haw motherf_ckers who are too lazy to learn how to say "Where is the bathroom?" in spanish but aren't lazy enough to whine and complain non-stop about how English should be the only language spoken in this country.

Know what the f#ck you're talking about before you speak. I already stated that I took a year of spanish in high school and know enough of the basics to get by. If you go on vacation somewhere do you expect them to speak your language or do you make an effort to communicate with them in their language?

[Thor99]

complain non-stop about how English should be the only language spoken in this country.

Show me one post where someone said that English should be the only language spoken in this country. Just one.

Again, we have to learn another language, yet the immigrant doesn't. Got it.