# Speak English Signs Allowed



## MJS (Mar 20, 2008)

IIRC, there was a thread about this subject around here somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.  So, I figured I'd start a new one with this info. 

The cheesesteak shop in PA that was the center of attention for having a "English Only" sign seems to have won the case, and it was decided that the sign was not in violation of city ordinance.



> PHILADELPHIA - The owner of a famous cheesesteak shop did not discriminate when he posted signs asking customers to speak English, a city panel ruled Wednesday.
> In a 2-1 vote, a Commission on Human Relations panel found that two signs at Geno's Steaks telling customers, "This is America: WHEN ORDERING 'PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH,'" do not violate the city's Fair Practices Ordinance.


 
Link


----------



## Andy Moynihan (Mar 20, 2008)

I was beginning to wonder if we'd EVER start seeing common sense in legal decisions in this country.


----------



## terryl965 (Mar 20, 2008)

Andy Moynihan said:


> I was beginning to wonder if we'd EVER start seeing common sense in legal decisions in this country.


 
Of course this is America after all.


----------



## Carol (Mar 20, 2008)

Meh.  Just another sales gimmick.  The sign wasn't designed for the immigrants, it was designed for the anglophones.  

If someone's English is so poor that they don't even have the capability of ordering in English at a sub shop....chances are their English is so poor that they would not be able to comprehend what "This is America: WHEN ORDERING 'PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH" means unless a bilingual person tells them.

I'm glad he won the case.  I just don't think he is some sort of cultural saint.  He is simply a good businessman.


----------



## JadecloudAlchemist (Mar 20, 2008)

Here in Miami I deal with alot of people who speak Spanish.
 My wife being native Japanese and speaks English as a second language is boggled by the idea so many people come to Miami and refuse to learn English. What is mind blowing is a good amount of people who do not speak English here in Miami refuse to learn it and call those who do not speak Spanish stupido or stupid. Oh well...:shrug:


----------



## MJS (Mar 20, 2008)

I've always been a believer that you should learn the language of the country that you're in.  If my wife and I moved to Italy, you'd bet we'd take some classes and learn the Italian language.  Will I be as good speaking as a native Italian?  Of course not, but I'd learn the basics and keep working to improve from there.  

Now, its different if you're just going to a place for a visit.  But, even then, I feel that its only a plus to you, to learn some basics.  

I'm glad the shop owner won the case.


----------



## tshadowchaser (Mar 20, 2008)

I know I am old but when i was young I was taught in school that this was an English speaking country. It was founded by people who  spoke English.  When the early immigrants came here they learned English or at least their children did. When people wanted to become citizens they took the oath in English.
I am happy the case was settled as it was.

I also agree that if I went somewhere else to live I would want to learn some of that language so I could communicate with others that lived there


----------



## theletch1 (Mar 21, 2008)

The big bruhaha at Gino's ended up being not much more than a well executed sales gimmick (since he won).  He stated on several occassions that he'd never refused service to anyone regardless of the language in which they ordered.  I'm in agreement with those of you who would attempt to learn the language of what ever country you're living in.  As to those who scream about diversity, well, there are logical constraints to that.  We live in a country where the VAST majority of people speak english as a first language.  The refusal to learn the common language simply inhibits the ability to interact with the community at large.


----------



## Xue Sheng (Mar 21, 2008)

Carol Kaur said:


> Meh. Just another sales gimmick. The sign wasn't designed for the immigrants, it was designed for the anglophones.


 
ahhhh yup... I agree... just another sales Gimmick



JadecloudAlchemist said:


> Here in Miami I deal with alot of people who speak Spanish.
> My wife being native Japanese and speaks English as a second language is boggled by the idea so many people come to Miami and refuse to learn English. What is mind blowing is a good amount of people who do not speak English here in Miami refuse to learn it and call those who do not speak Spanish stupido or stupid. Oh well...:shrug:


 
My wife is from China and her native language is Mandarin she also speaks Japanese and English and recently tried to learn Cantonese since there are so many Cantonese speakers in our area but stopped since they all pretty much know English and\or Mandarin anyway. 

But she feels much the same way she can't understand why if you live in a country you do not know the language. My mother-in-law is in her 70s and when she comes to visit she tried to learn English.


----------



## tellner (Mar 21, 2008)

OK, it's a snotty marketing ploy. But it beats the bright green hell out of what I saw going to school in Central Vancouver Island in the late 70s. A touristy couple walked into the grocery store and tried speak French to the proprietor. They were told, and I quote, "Speak White."

It also brings to mind an old joke:



> What do you call a person who speaks three languages?
> A: Trilingual
> 
> What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
> ...


----------



## Xue Sheng (Mar 21, 2008)

tellner said:


> OK, it's a snotty marketing ploy. But it beats the bright green hell out of what I saw going to school in Central Vancouver Island in the late 70s. A touristy couple walked into the grocery store and tried speak French to the proprietor. They were told, and I quote, "Speak White."
> 
> It also brings to mind an old joke:


 
They use to do a similar thing in Hong Kong prior to the PRC taking it back, but they were a bit nicer. A friend of mine got in a cab there and told the driver where he wanted to go in Mandarin to which the driver responded in Mandarin and told him he would not take him anywhere unless he asked in Cantonese, which my friend did not speak. However the driver then proceeded to teach him how to say the same thing in Cantonese and after that he took him to where he wanted to go.

And your joke reminded me of the Steven Wright bit




> I was in a bookstore, and I started talking to a French-looking girl. She was a bilingual illiterate. She couldn't read in two languages."


----------



## Bob Hubbard (Mar 21, 2008)

tellner said:


> OK, it's a snotty marketing ploy. But it beats the bright green hell out of what I saw going to school in Central Vancouver Island in the late 70s. A touristy couple walked into the grocery store and tried speak French to the proprietor. They were told, and I quote, "Speak White."
> 
> It also brings to mind an old joke:


I like it.  LOL!


----------



## navyvetcv60 (Mar 21, 2008)

Sales gimmick or not, this is still a serious issue.

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American... 

There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." 
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1919


----------



## Xue Sheng (Mar 21, 2008)

navyvetcv60 said:


> Sales gimmick or not, this is still a serious issue.
> 
> "In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...
> 
> ...


 
And yet doesn't the US allow dual citizenship? And I know it allows resident alien status. 

And I was once talking to a woman from Germany and she thought it was rather funny that most Americans when you ask them what they are or where they are from give you their heritage. I am German, Irish, I am Scottish, My heritage is French, etc. It was her experience that very few said just "American". Where if you ask someone from Germany where they are from they will simply say German.

But with that said I do feel that if you are going to live in America and function in America you should learn English but if you don't so be it but you should not expect anyone to cater to you or your language and you certainly should not get upset if you are not understood.

EDIT

I forgot to add this

Here is another quote to consider as well though



> Give me your tired, your poor,
> Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
> The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
> Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
> I lift my lamp beside the golden door.


----------



## KenpoTex (Mar 22, 2008)

If I'm ever in Philly, I know where I'm going to eat.


----------



## Carol (Mar 22, 2008)

I agree it is a very serious issue.  Which is why I am not impressed.  I don't like to see serious issues trivialized with fluffy feel-good measures that do nothing to address the issue.

If everyone that thumped their chest and gave the restaurant owner a lusty "YEAH MAN" in response to his sign actually had the fortitude to put their _actions _behind their values then maybe we might see a change.  

But...unfortunately...that is too hard for a lot of people to do.  They don't want to volunteer the time.  They don't want to deal with the cultural differences.  They don't want the frustration of teaching English to someone illiterate in their own language.   Its much easier to resent non-Anglophones. 

Which is a real shame.  Because...the enthusiasm over an act of posturing is no comparison to the absolute euphoria over actually putting your time where your mouth is and seeing a person improve their life over what you taught them.  To have a student come up to you and say they got a promotion, or a better job, or were able to help their kids with their homework for the first time.  Or to have someone insist that you must teach them more, only to turn them away...telling them that they don't need an ESL course snymore...they need an English course...and refer them to the local community college.

Who has had more effect on an immigrant's ability to learn English?  A nameless ESL volunteer that no one has heard of?  Or a sign in a sub shop?


----------



## theletch1 (Mar 22, 2008)

Other side of that coin, though, Carol is that many members of various ethnic groups refuse to learn english.  They feel that they are betraying their heritage by doing so.  We're sliding more and more away from the "melting pot" that we once were and more and more into an amalgam of different cultures that happen to cohabit the same country.  In many places across this country you'll find "chinatowns" or "little Havanas" where one can spend 95% of their time and never have the need to speak english on a daily basis.  When you do need to use the language you can always have someone from the neighborhood translate for you.

Example:  The company that I drive for employs quite a few folks from Central America in the processing plant.  Of all the hispanic folks that work there maybe 4 have a good grasp of the english language.  These four have been assigned one each to different departments to act as translators for the rest.  I speak spanish fairly well and get the opportunity to talk to the ones in our recieving department daily.  When asked how it is that I speak spanish so well I explain that I trained at the Presidio of Monterey while in the USMC.  After the usual complement regarding my language skills I'll ask if they'd help me practice my spanish if I'll help them with their english.  I've only had one take me up on the offer.  The rest have pointed to the "translator" for that department and said they didn't need to learn english cause "Al" was there for that.


----------



## Sukerkin (Mar 22, 2008)

There are a whole bundle of serious issues wrapped up in the background that made a sign in a shop become such a high profile event.  

The most key of all in a country founded and grown by immigration is that the infuxing people must be assimilated into the host culture; allowing Balkanisation will eventually fracture the society, to the detriment of everyone.

Language is a 'binding agent' in the process of everyday existence.  Having a common tongue (no jokes please ) is much more fundamental to a functioning society than many people give it credit for.


----------



## MJS (Mar 22, 2008)

navyvetcv60 said:


> Sales gimmick or not, this is still a serious issue.
> 
> "In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...
> 
> ...


 
Wow...if this post doesn't scream prejudice, I don't know what does.  Nothing wrong with speaking 2 languages or 10, but, as I said in my post and speaking only from my point of view, I feel that one should learn and speak the language of the country they're in.  However, it does not mean that they can't speak their native language to family or others that are fluent in it.  But, if they're speaking German and I don't know German, well, that is a good example.  Learn enough to communicate with a non speaking German.


----------



## Bob Hubbard (Mar 22, 2008)

When confronted with someone who refuses to learn english, I will resort to speaking Klingon. It often annoys them significantly since they can't understand anything I'm saying. The obvious lesson however is usually lost on them.  Other countries have an "Official" language. The US needs to do that, and make it English. They also need to stop providing translators at taxpayer expense and make those who won't learn, foot the bill for their non-integration into US Society.

Let the money being spent now on translators go instead into language learning programs to help non-english speakers learn to a functional level. It can be subsidized with volenteers who will help in return for learning other languages.


----------



## Cryozombie (Mar 22, 2008)

tellner said:


> What do you call a person who speaks three languages?
> A: Trilingual
> 
> What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
> ...


 

This brings to mind my issue with this topic... (the subject matter, not this thread) 

Why is it when this issue comes up you often hear several people proclaiming how wrong it is to try and "force" someone to speak english if they come here... but then they insist you should learn to communicate with the immigrant?  Or call you a "stupid american" for not knowing more than one language?   I guess what I'm driving at is why is that appropriate, but not making a Spanish, Polish, Russian, whatever speaker learn english to get along in a country that is predominanlty english speaking?


----------



## Makalakumu (Mar 22, 2008)

Is it an infringement of a person's rights to force them to learn a language?  In a country that supposedly values an individual's liberty, is it okay to violate that liberty for the sake of conformity?


----------



## theletch1 (Mar 22, 2008)

upnorthkyosa said:


> Is it an infringement of a person's rights to force them to learn a language? In a country that supposedly values an individual's liberty, is it okay to violate that liberty for the sake of conformity?


Not at all.  It's an attempt to avoid a "Tower of Babel" scenario.  For a society to work there must be communication.  How is one to be able to get the most from a particular society if they can't communicate with the majority of individuals within that community?  By refusing to learn the common tongue of a country you are putting yourself outside of that unit and are there by hindering your ability to operate within it.  Knowing, before you ever enter into that community, that you will be required to communicate in the common tongue of said community could go a long way toward easing much of the troubles that immigrants have in any country.


----------



## tellner (Mar 22, 2008)

kenpotex said:


> If I'm ever in Philly, I know where I'm going to eat.



Yep. Anyplace that doesn't have one of those schmuck-headed signs.


----------



## jks9199 (Mar 22, 2008)

On the issue of learning the dominant language of the place you live...

I run into many folks whose fluency in English is directly related to whether or not being able to speak English will benefit them.  For example, I recently had a jury trial.  During _voir dire_ (the process of selecting and qualifying the jurors), the judge dismissed an Asian gentleman who rather clearly didn't speak English very well early in the process.  Interestingly enough, all the rest of Asians in the pool didn't speak English very well after that...  Even the one who explained how poorly she spoke English pretty well, in English.  (My estimate is that was about 50/50 on how truthfully they didn't speak English.)

Of course, I have learned that, professionally, I'm an incredible language teacher.  Quite often I can almost instantly impart fluency in the English language, all based on a few words from me...  like "jail" or "ticket" or "arrest."  Somehow, when one of those magic words come up -- the guy who couldn't speak English at all is suddenly able to curse me out quite imaginatively!


----------



## Carol (Mar 22, 2008)

theletch1 said:


> Other side of that coin, though, Carol is that many members of various ethnic groups refuse to learn english.  They feel that they are betraying their heritage by doing so.  We're sliding more and more away from the "melting pot" that we once were and more and more into an amalgam of different cultures that happen to cohabit the same country.  In many places across this country you'll find "chinatowns" or "little Havanas" where one can spend 95% of their time and never have the need to speak english on a daily basis.  When you do need to use the language you can always have someone from the neighborhood translate for you.
> 
> Example:  The company that I drive for employs quite a few folks from Central America in the processing plant.  Of all the hispanic folks that work there maybe 4 have a good grasp of the english language.  These four have been assigned one each to different departments to act as translators for the rest.  I speak spanish fairly well and get the opportunity to talk to the ones in our recieving department daily.  When asked how it is that I speak spanish so well I explain that I trained at the Presidio of Monterey while in the USMC.  After the usual complement regarding my language skills I'll ask if they'd help me practice my spanish if I'll help them with their english.  I've only had one take me up on the offer.  The rest have pointed to the "translator" for that department and said they didn't need to learn english cause "Al" was there for that.



That is perhaps the toughest cultural stumbling block to teaching ESL.  Most of my students have been from the Indian subcontinent or the surrounding area.  Despite having the ability to speak some Spanish myself...I have not had as many Latino students as I have south Asian or Russian students.  And I think that speaks volumes for the societal/cultural issues at play.

There are successful Latino businessmen that try to reach out to the community and stress the importance of learning English...they find it just as challenging.  It is very difficult to teach someone that doesn't want to learn...but a student that doesn't want to learn normally doesn't stick around very long anyway.

Nonetheless...I keep trying, so do others.


----------



## navyvetcv60 (Mar 22, 2008)

Sukerkin said:


> There are a whole bundle of serious issues wrapped up in the background that made a sign in a shop become such a high profile event.
> 
> The most key of all in a country founded and grown by immigration is that the infuxing people must be assimilated into the host culture; allowing Balkanisation will eventually fracture the society, to the detriment of everyone.
> 
> Language is a 'binding agent' in the process of everyday existence.  Having a common tongue (no jokes please ) is much more fundamental to a functioning society than many people give it credit for.



Sukerkin, this is exactly what i would have said if i were as articulate as you. With that England is having just as big a problem with the influx of Arabs as we are Mexicans. I recently heard a report that the number one name for new born males in England is Muhammad, I'm sure it's a pretty good bet that the majority of new born "Muhammad's are Arab.


----------



## tellner (Mar 22, 2008)

History is icky 'cause it's _hard_. Sometimes you find out things you didn't want to hear.

In this case it's the same old story again, just like the all-new all-animal supergangs which are worse than anything we've ever had to deal with before. 

Every time a new wave of immigrants has washed up it's obvious that they're going to convert us to their heathen ways and destroy our Precious Bodily Fluids. And, of course, the first thing you notice is that they don't speak English and absolutely refuse to learn it.

Good thing it's not true.

The Elders might not. It's hard to pick up a new language in your later years.
The younger adults will even if they always speak with an accent.
The kids definitely learn the new language and do it pretty quickly. 

If you look at the historical record you will see the same things said about the Italians, the Jews, the Japanese, the Chinese and pretty much everyone else. Move North of the border and they said the same thing about Russians, Poles and Ukrainians. They look funny. They sound funny. They smell bad. They stick to their own kind in little enclaves that aren't really part of our country. And they don't learn English. 

Do the Italians all speak Italian seventy years on? Can you talk to a Jew in a language other than Yiddish? Do Nisei and Sansei only speak Japanese? No. Yes. No.

There's a growing Hispanic population in Portland. A lot of the older people don't have much English. Recent immigrants nod a lot and speak Spanish with each other. But over a few years they learn. Their kids speak it pretty fluently. Their grandkids like they were natives. They call themselves "Chicanos" and despise the newly arrived "Latinos" as uncultured hicks who look funny, smell funny, and don't speak English.

The Russians - we've got a lot of those, too - are the same story although more of them came over already knowing it. Still, when I go to Russian markets the signs are all Cyrillic. Everyone is speaking Russian or Ukrainian. Even fluent English speakers have to switch gears. But people don't hold it against them quite so much because they're attractively pale. They're not like Ay-rabs or Hin-doos or *shudder* Africans.


----------



## ackks10 (Mar 22, 2008)

MJS said:


> IIRC, there was a thread about this subject around here somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.  So, I figured I'd start a new one with this info.
> 
> The cheesesteak shop in PA that was the center of attention for having a "English Only" sign seems to have won the case, and it was decided that the sign was not in violation of city ordinance.
> 
> ...



Hey Mike that cheesesteak place is about 20 min, from me, we go there all the time,, when i go there the next time, i'll send you one  (watch the oil):duh:


----------



## Sukerkin (Mar 22, 2008)

*Tellner*, forgive me if I'm way off the mark but I'm sensing that there is a greater than usual intensity to your erudite posting on this issue?  

Do you think that perhaps a focus on the supposedly (because I do not accept the view) racist aspects of expecting immigrants to learn the language and adopt the mores of the country they're entering, is hiding the more important issues that lie behind a refusal to integrate?

I apologise for using it as an introduction of the broader concepts of the problems that are lurking at the heart of much of the developed world right now.  In my defense, it was only because of the quality of your posts that I picked out the topic bifurcation - feel free to PM me with much scorning for doing so because, in the end, it is overly personal to open a post the way I did (it's only because I'm a couple of paragraphs in that I don't delete the lot and start again ).

In past migration scenarios, the numbers involved were much smaller and thus the impact on the host country much less than what is occurring now.  

For example, in the past year or so, nearly a *million* Poles have entered England - that's bordering on 2% of our population (and most of them seem to have ended up at a local town called Crewe, forming that most poisonous of cliques, an enclave).  

A society cannot absorb that rate of influx and remain stable, especially when the new members do not want to 'join'.  They are here for economic reasons and are actually detrimental to the economy, despite the fact that they are doing jobs that overly-aspirational 'natives' will not take, because they siphon their earnings out of the local money supply and into that of their country of origin.

However, at least the Poles make a passing attempt at speaking 'the language'.  But because they are, in essence, a massive migrant workforce, a huge proportion do not attempt to integrate - after all they intend to leave after a few years.

That is the central issue - integration.  If you relocate to another country and that relocation is intended to be permanent or multi-generational, then not to adjust to be become part of the culture you're joining is not acceptable.  As I said earlier, that leads to Balkanisation and the fracturing of host society.  This is not a problem to be underestimated (ask Yugoslavia for references as to the effects, tho' theirs had a religious as well as an ethnic component).

It is not racist to expect immigrants to alter their own mores and codes and language to fit in with where they migrate to; it is common sense.  In fact to argue that it is wrong to expect it is a triumph of Political Correctness over practicality.  The only two countries to suffer from this excess of PC zeal that I can see are America and Britain.  

Even such countries that are regarded as very 'liberal' and open, such as Canada are not as daft as we are on this issue.  I looked into emigrating to Canada a few years ago.  _Everything_ about me they loved.  I was in the right age range, I had a skill set very much in demand, I had enough money to support myself for a while until I found employment ... you get the picture.  Two things they didn't like. The lesser was that I wasn't married.  The major stumbling block was that my French wasn't good enough - I am not kidding, that was the sole reason that my application did not 'win' enough points, despite the fact that I wanted to move to the 'English' side of the country.

I'm sounding a bit like a one-note-song now but learning the language is a pivotal part of becoming part of the society.  If you don't want to be part of the society then don't go there.  That sounds selfish and it is.  I have seen my country become fragmented because of unbridled immigration and it irks me terribly.  We had a culture and a heritage to be proud of - to be 'British' was iconic.  That is no more. 

The West Indian wave, the Indian wave, the Pakistani wave, the Polack wave ... all have played their part in erasing important parts of our culture.  The major motivator of that has been a refusal to integrate.  Blending is good, it strengthens the whole and that is what used to happen in the gradual flows of population.  What made Britain 'Great' was that we were a mongrel nation of all kinds mixed together.  What is happening now is the reverse of that - fragility is the consequence of PC driven Enclavism.

What is the primary sign of Enclavism?  Refusing to learn the language.  Now that is just the first step and there are other consequences that afflict subsequent non-integrating generations(who *do* speak the language but I've rattled on too long and need to shush ).

Anyone want to rent my soapbox :lol:.


----------



## jks9199 (Mar 22, 2008)

One thing that I see as different now in the USA is that there are many more "immigrants" that aren't really immigrating; they're here to work, legally or illegally, or to get schooling or whatever, and they don't plain on staying here and becoming part of the US society.  They're going to make their money or get their degrees, and split.  Now, I'm not at all suggesting that many of them don't end up becoming permanent immigrants over time... but that isn't their goal.  In *Starship Troopers*, the main character notes that there is a perceptual difference between being career and being term; term troopers could talk about "when this war is over & I go home", while career troopers knew they weren't done till they'd done their 20.  Something similar seems to happen in relationships; living together before marriage isn't a predictor of success in marriage.  I think a part of that is the relative permanence.  Well -- if you're only here to make some money or get your degree or whatever, you aren't going to try to assimilate.  You're a "visitor."   You don't invest emotionally in the society, so you don't learn the language.  Instead of becoming an American of <whatever> heritage, you're a <whatever> who happens to be in the US.   I think that in the past, this was more localized with migrant farm workers or university students, instead of the very widespread number of so-called "immigrants" (often illegal).


----------



## AceHBK (Mar 23, 2008)

Bob Hubbard said:


> Other countries have an "Official" language. The US needs to do that, and make it English.


 
I have heard before this is the root of the whole problem.....America does not have a official language 

I think it wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt for those people who don't want to speak english weren't so arrogant about it.  U also have to think that a lot of americans feel that when they go to another country the people there should speak english.


----------



## Xue Sheng (Mar 23, 2008)

AceHBK said:


> IU also have to think that a lot of americans feel that when they go to another country the people there should speak english.


 
Yup, and yelling at someone in English does not help 

Actually I saw that in Beijing, the funny part was that the guy had such a heavy Southern accent that I couldnt understand him all that well when he was yelling in English.

But it is not only Americans. A friend of mines wife is from Tokyo and once when he was there his wife's uncle was trying to talk to my friend in Japanese and since my fiend did not fully understand Japanese at that time her Uncle proceeded to repeat everything he said in Japanese just LOUDER. I guess greater volume makes it easier to understand


----------



## Sukerkin (Mar 23, 2008)

:lol:  I thought only English people did that .


----------



## jks9199 (Mar 23, 2008)

Xue Sheng said:


> But it is not only Americans. A friend of mines wife is from Tokyo and once when he was there his wife's uncle was trying to talk to my friend in Japanese and since my fiend did not fully understand Japanese at that time her Uncle proceeded to repeat everything he said in Japanese just LOUDER. I guess greater volume makes it easier to understand



I've had the same sort of thing happen with Spanish.

I'll be talking to somebody, and he's not following...  His buddy will basically repeat what I say, and NOW he gets it!  Don't know what was wrong with ME saying it...


----------



## Xue Sheng (Mar 23, 2008)

Sukerkin said:


> :lol: I thought only English people did that .


 
So did I until he told me about that.



jks9199 said:


> I've had the same sort of thing happen with Spanish.
> 
> I'll be talking to somebody, and he's not following... His buddy will basically repeat what I say, and NOW he gets it! Don't know what was wrong with ME saying it...


 
I use to do that for a friend of mine from Guangzhou but he had an accent. He would say something in English to someone and they would not understand and I would say the same thing and they would understand then they would respond to him in English and he wouldn't under stand and then I would repeat the same thing in English and he would understand. It was a pretty interesting way to hold a conversation.


----------



## CoryKS (Mar 24, 2008)

I can't even focus on this topic.  My mind keeps coming back to "mmmm cheesesteak ghlghlghlghl!!!"


----------



## HebrewCossack (Mar 31, 2008)

I have a solution to this!!!! Change every sign, billboard, and anything else with words on it to Russian! Then everyone will be like 'wtf'?


----------

