Ask Me Help Desk - Why Should Your Kids Not Know English Only? 'Cause OBAMA Says So!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

So you're just going to duck out now? How did your wife learn English? Most of the immigrants I know and deal with at work are learning English on the fly and from very patient native-English-speaking neighbors and coworkers and individuals they encounter in the community. They are immersed in English and have no choice but to learn it if they intend to survive in this country.

She went to the local middle school, signed up for English as a second language, paid the fee, and went to class 2 nights a week.

If it is their desire to live here, it is their obligation to learn the language.

What do you think Mexico would say, if someone told them, that they need to learn English, so that it will be much easier for Americans when we visit or move to their country?

The illegal invasion from our southern border is costing our Nation a great deal, and the answer to this enormous problem, is to require us to speak their language.

All I can do is scratch my head, and wonder, why the hell would we do that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by progunr

She went to the local middle school, signed up for English as a second language, paid the fee, and went to class 2 nights a week.

If it is their desire to live here, it is their obligation to learn the language.

What do you think Mexico would say, if someone told them, that they need to learn English, so that it will be much easier for Americans when we visit or move to their country?

The illegal invasion from our southern border is costing our Nation a great deal, and the answer to this enormous problem, is to require us to speak their language.

All I can do is scratch my head, and wonder, why the hell would we do that!!

They need to learn English and they ARE learning English. No one is refusing. As I told someone else here, I'm against bilingual education. Immersing oneself into whatever language is the best way to learn it. If I move to China, I will learn Mandarin Chinese. It won't happen overnight, but I will learn it. I see nothing wrong with Americans learning Spanish or any other foreign language to better communicate with immigrants. I see nothing wrong with posting additional signs and giving helps in another language. Don't worry, progunr. All those immigrants will learn English.

We agree!

There is nothing wrong with someone learning a second, or third language.

As long as it is their choice to do so, and not because it has been mandated by some elitist, who was able to smooth talk his way into the White House.

That is where this all started, for some reason it turned into a "just learning another language" debate and moved away from the original topic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by progunr

As long as it is their choice to do so, and not because it has been mandated by some elitist, who was able to smooth talk his way into the White House.

There is no elitist mandating (or who will mandate). You have taken a few words out of Obama's speech and whipped up a war of words. You've taken a button and knitted a sweater around it. All will be well, progunr, all will be well.

You sound like a sweet person.

Too bad you've gotten into the Obama Koolaid.

Yeah, him and his socialistic ideals are totally harmless.

Have another drink.

Quote:

Originally Posted by progunr

You sound like a sweet person.

Too bad you've gotten into the Obama Koolaid.

Yeah, him and his socialistic ideals are totally harmless.

Have another drink.

Even excon likes me, so I must be okay.

And I'm a Republican at heart, but one who votes with her head. Obama might just surprise you and end up making you proud, progunr. I will pray that will happen.

Quote:

elitist

And who's elitist? Certainly not the Current Occupant and McSame...

Incredible! Obama wants children to be bilingual and learn Spanish, yet he has admitted not being bilingual himself! It's a clear-cut case of do as I say not as I do. YOU Do it, but not I! Why should I?

Political Radar: Como Se Dice? Obama Clarifies Comments Over Foreign Languages

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Even excon likes me, so I must be okay.

And I'm a Republican at heart, but one who votes with her head. Obama might just surprise you and end up making you proud, progunr. I will pray that will happen.

All right, Wondergirl, that's enough. What is it about the Republican Party that you like most and dislike most? What is it about the Democrat Party you like most, and dislike most? If you are an elitist Republican, I can see why Obama's comments about children learning a second language wouldn't matter: "You need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about how can your child become bilingual. We should have every child speaking more than one language. It's embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German." That's a crock. Our kids better be learning English, history, math, and science.

Quote:

Originally Posted by George_1950

Our kids better be learning English, history, math, and science.

I was a humble schoolteacher and believe languages should be first taught in the early grades when it is much easier for children to learn them (and not waiting until high school). Phonics and handwriting and geography should return to the curriculum, along with the regular classes in science, math, English, and history, as you mentioned. Art and music would be excellent additions. All of those were taught in my grade school and high school curricula. Has the school day gotten shorter since the 1950s, that those are missing from today's education?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyGem

Incredible! Obama wants children to be bilingual and learn Spanish, yet he has admitted not being bilingual himself! It's a clear-cut case of do as I say not as I do. YOU Do it, but not I! Why should I?!

You say Obama wants CHILDREN to be bilingual. Nothing wrong with that! So he's not doing it?? --he's forbidding his daughters to be bilingual and learn another language like Spanish? Please post proof of that.

Nothing wrong with be bi-lingual, if it is by choice. No one should be forced to learn another language. It may help if the culture you are liiving in speaks a certain language, but force is never the answer. And I don't personally agree with anything Obama says.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thisnthatshoppe

Nothing wrong with be bi-lingual, if it is by choice. No one should be forced to learn another language.

As far as know, taking a language in high school has always been a choice. If kindergarteners are taught German for fifteen minutes a day, is that considered forced?

Quote:

Originally Posted by thisnthatshoppe

Nothing wrong with be bi-lingual, if it is by choice. No one should be forced to learn another language. It may help if the culture you are liiving in speaks a certain language, but force is never the answer. And I don't personally agree with anything Obama says.

Um, I think there are children in school against their will. They don't want to get up in the morning or do homework or sit still in class. Is that forced education? Should we let them run loose on the streets instead?

My children in high school are required to take 3 years of a foreign language. They also were taught Spanish in the middle school. They may be teaching it in the elementary school now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Um, I think there are children in school against their will. They don't want to get up in the morning or do homework or sit still in class. Is that forced education? Should we let them run loose on the streets instead?

Now, there's an idea. At the beginning of class each morning, remove those that are not prepared or don't want to be there and let them dig-up dandelions, cut grass, and rake the school yard in fair weather; and make the floors and walls spotless in bad weather.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

Has the school day gotten shorter since the 1950s, that those are missing from today's education?

What is missing in today's education from the 1950s is, in a word, discipline. This HBO movie is definitely worth the time to watch: HBO Documentaries: Documentary Films Series: Hard Times: Synopsis
Of course, I love it when the libs try to place blame for poor performance of schools on George Bush and "No Child Left Behind".

Quote:

Originally Posted by George_1950

What is missing in todays education for the 1950s is, in a word, discipline.

Discipline begins with the parents and US parents these days don't give a crap about their kids, they are too busy trying to appear wealthy. In my opinion it is not up to the teachers to raise my child.

Needkarma. Maybe some U.S. parents don't give a crap about their children but I do and I take offense to a blanket statement like that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Discipline begins with the parents and US parents these days don't give a crap about their kids, they are too busy trying to appear wealthy. In my opinion it is not up to the teachers to raise my child.

I couldn't disagree more. US parents have given a blank check to education, which gets poorer and poorer. The education establishment is run by elitists, like the Obama crowd (and maybe McCain as well, who knows?); elitism has replaced pragmatism. I've been in a 6th grade classroom recently; the students have no fear of their teachers because corporal punishment has been banned in that county. When I was in 6th grade, a teacher would take a misbehaving student into the hallway and wear them out for all to hear. The effect was dramatic; we need that back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bushg

Needkarma. Maybe some U.S. parents don't give a crap about their children but I do and I take offense to a blanket statement like that.

Sorry mate, I shouldn't have made a blanket statement, you are correct. There are some good kids out there with great parents.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

You say Obama wants CHILDREN to be bilingual. Nothing wrong with that! So he's not doing it???--he's forbidding his daughters to be bilingual and learn another language like Spanish? Please post proof of that.

That is the question many are asking about his daughters. And you're putting words in my mouth. Remember, I did not say he is "forbidding" his daughters to be bilingual. But has he pushed them far enough to be bilingual is the question? He DOES, however, want for American children, in general, to be bilingual.

In further answer to your question about the daughters, you might want to check these out.

Obama: Kids Should Learn Spanish (Look at post 25 that asks the same question!)

760 KFMB AM - San Diego, CA - Talk Radio (The comments posted afterwards are really something!)

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Needkarma, thank you we are not all alike and I do realize some people let their kids go and in the end they end up paying the price as well as the poor children.

George. I don't need a teacher, principal or anyone to hit my children in fact if someone in school were to hit my child I would press charges on them.

That being said they have my number and can reach me anytime and know that if my child gets out of hand I am minutes/phone call away and will deal with my children and will back them up on their non corporal punishments.
I have 3 children in school one just graduated with a full ride scholarship and has never been hit by anyone and he wasn't always the most dedicated student either. The other 2 are works in progress and will never be hit by any adult and hopefully not by another child. I don't think that fear teaches anything... there has got to be other ways... better ways.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bushg

Needkarma, thank you we are not all alike and I do realize some people let their kids go and in the end they end up paying the price as well as the poor children.

George. I don't need a teacher, principal or anyone to hit my children in fact if someone in school were to hit my child I would press charges on them.
...
I don't think that fear teaches anything...there has got to be other ways ...better ways.

Of course, who would disagree with you? Schools are not for teaching hitting. But I invite you to view "HARD TIMES AT DOUGLASS HIGH: A NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND REPORT CARD", sorry about the caps, but that's the way it copied; it has been on several times lately, HBO. Here, you will see an urban high school, certainly not out of money, but out of control. I've seen almost the same thing in predominantly white, rural school of just 6th graders, out of control. The kids have no respect for or fear of their teachers.

We are teaching our son Spanish and French. But I know I have gotten ( may have mentioned this already) but I have lost out on two good jobs because I don't speak Spanish well enough.

Yet another incongruency from Obama... so many little incongruencies

One thing is 4 people to make personal choices of what language to learn based on their likes or convenience for the are they live in. Excellent.
But for a potential US president to tell YOU that you "Should" learn a language (or even more controlling -- instill in your kids) that is a bit invasive and weird.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyprine

One thing is 4 ppl to make personal choices of what language to learn based on their likes or convenience for the are they live in. Excellent.
But for a potential US president to tell YOU that you "Should" learn a language (or even more controlling -- instill in your kids) that is a bit invasive and wierd.

Especially when he cannot himself, as he is an elitist: "Do as I say, not as I do."

Quote:

Originally Posted by George_1950

Especially when he cannot himself, as he is an elitist: "Do as I say, not as I do."

When did he say he cannot, does not, has not, will not?

Obama speaks passable Bahasa Indonesia (one of the most widely spoken languages in the world) which uses the Latin/Roman alphabet and has links to Romance languages of which Spanish is one.

From Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, April 26, 1997
David Heckelman

"Living in Indonesia was a fascinating time," Obama said, "because it gave me a good sense of what the Third World was like and what an emerging nation goes through." He learned to speak the Indonesian language while living there.

"I also speak a barely passable Spanish, and sometimes a barely passable English," he said, having studied the Spanish language and English literature at Occidental College in Los Angeles and at Columbia University in New York.

"I have a smattering of Swahili," he added, "because my father was from Kenya." He said he had traveled to that country to learn more about his father, who had died in 1980 and whom he had not known very well.

I know that Obama is more fluent in English than most of us.

He claimed he spole fluent Indonesian as a child, but has since backed away from that, after his teachers at both the Catholic School and the Muslim Indonesian public school Obama attended said Obama did not speak Indonesian at all.

Quote:

Obama has claimed on numerous occasions to have become fluent in Indonesian in six months. Yet those who knew him disputed that during recent interviews.

Israella Pareira Darmawan, Obama's 1st-grade teacher, said she attempted to help him learn the Indonesian language by going over pronunciation and vowel sounds. He struggled greatly with the foreign language, she said, and with his studies as a result.

BARACK OBAMA: The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth -- chicagotribune.com

Tom,
You are positively obsessed with the man. You love him!

He could be the POTUS . That in my book compels me as an informed citizen to find out as much as I can about this blank slate.

Anyone watch his poll numbers drop like a rock last week ? Does anyone have a doubt that the numbers are tied into his ridicule of the average American ? This is not the 1st time in the campaign he's let it out that he holds the typical white /typical average American from rural areas / typical ignorant American who is not an elitist, in contempt.

1 Attachment(s)

Yea Tom that must be it. Great analysis!
Interesting how you got is all wrong though, he actually gained some points over the senile one:
RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 National Head-to-Head Polls

Attachment 10145

Try again with the FUD, I know you will, you are relentless. :)

Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a presidential election.

Quote:

For the second straight day, the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll shows that the race for the White House is tied. Sunday's numbers show Barack Obama and John McCain each attracting 43% of the vote. When "leaners" are included, the two candidates are tied at 46%. For most of the past month-and-a-half, Obama has led McCain by approximately five percentage points.

It was the first time since Obama became the nominee on June 3 that McCain had equaled him.

Further,the poll indicated McCain is now viewed favorably by 56 percent of voters while Obama is favored by 54 percent. Obama received unfavorable reviews from 44 percent of voters while McCain is viewed unfavorably by 41 percent.

I think that is tied directly with Obama's idiotic statements about Americans. I also think that the margin would've been greater if McCain adviser Phil Graham did not call Americans "whiners".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

When did he say he cannot, does not, has not, will not?
...

Will try to remember to footnote next time. Mr. Tom got it right.
Try this: "While the Obama campaign says that Obama speaks a little bit of Indonesian, Obama himself admits that he isn't bilingual. “I know because I don't speak a foreign language. It's embarrassing!” he said." I searched until finding this unbiased account: Como Se Dice? Obama Clarifies Comments Over Foreign Languages Political Radar

Funny that Tom, You show one poll where they are tied and I show a combination of various polls. You select the one only that shows they are tied. You throw names like "idiotic" around 'cause that's your style but don't expect all of us to buy in to your 'campaign'.

NK-

After hundreds of years this will be the first time an American President gives a state of union address that doesn't share the same appearance as many Americans of European extraction. Sure the majority of the anti-Obama posts are campaigned geared biases, but think of it as their rant therapy. Most educated Americans know better and when reading the context of articles or ingesting more than a soundbite, are well aware that McCain's days are but few. I actually like McCain, as a person, but point is that he wasn't even favored as electable by his own party in the 2000 Pub primaries when running against Dubya. Now look at the dissatisfaction that Dubya provided the majority of Americans as he soon escapes the White House to a ranch in Crawford, Texas. To borrow words from Choux as she put it, "it's bull-tonga."

Agreed Bam,
If Obama was really that unelectable they would focus on boosting McCain's visibility but instead they know they are running scared so all their posts are negative-campaigning posts. That says a lot about the fear welling up in them that their own candidate is sub-par.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Agreed Bam,
If Obama was really that unelectable they would focus on boosting McCain's visibility but instead they know they are running scared so all their posts are negative-campaigning posts. That says a lot about the fear welling up in them that their own candidate is sub-par.

You're definitely on to something, NK. One of the Chicago newspapers has frequent articles on Obama and his children and Obama and his love affair with his wife and Obama and his reading tastes and Obama and his spiritual concerns. The "Republican" paper has to be carefully paged through to find anything about McCain. What about McCain and his kids and McCain and his love affair with his wife and McCain and his reading tastes and McCain and his spiritual concerns? I don't know anything about the man to even care about him, much less to vote for him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

You're definitely on to something, NK. One of the Chicago newspapers has frequent articles on Obama and his children and Obama and his love affair with his wife and Obama and his reading tastes and Obama and his spiritual concerns. The "Republican" paper has to be carefully paged through to find anything about McCain. What about McCain and his kids and McCain and his love affair with his wife and McCain and his reading tastes and McCain and his spiritual concerns? I don't know anything about the man to even care about him, much less to vote for him.

I couldn't care less about the candidates kids.

I couldn't care less about the candidates love affairs with their wives.

I couldn't care less about the reading tastes of the candidates.

I am slightly concerned with the candidate Obama's spiritual concerns.

Without using any of these meaningless concerns, could you please share with us just exactly what it is that you "know" about Obama?

You know, meaningful things like what is he going to do about our high taxes?

What is he going to do about eliminating our dependence on Middle Eastern Oil?

What is he going to do about all the wasteful government entitlement programs?

What are the real and tangible accomplishments he has on his resume?

What are the examples of serious decisions he has had to make in his lifetime?

What kind of experience does he really have, other than community organizing?

Has he ever managed a company?

Has he ever even been an assistant manager of any company?

Has he ever supervised a large group of employee's before?

You know, the kind of stuff that really matters.