[Vision2020] Words Bring Pause

[Nicholas Gier]

Greetings:

I haven't looked at David's URL, but I'm pretty sure that India has at
least 25 official languages with English as default linguistic mode.  

Nearly each of the states have their own language, from Punjabi in the
Northwest, Hindi in North and Central India, and Bengali in the East. 
Then there is Marathi  and Gujarati in the West, Telegu in South
Central, Kannada in the South, and Tamil in the Southeast.  And many more.

The Northerns tried to force Hindi on the South and the Tamils and
others rose up in raging protest.  Kids in Southern India grow up
learning 4-5 languages on their playgrounds and then go to
English-medium schools, and the cream of the crop go to grad schools
that are rank just behind Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

On one of my trips to India I changed planes in Bangkok and it was
loaded with young Indians.  I asked one of them where they had been and
he said that they had just taken exams in English to become medical
interns in the U.S.  He boasted that he and his compatriots got the best
scores on the exams because Indian students have the best English
language skills.

My experience has been that young Asians and Europeans are speaking and
writing better English than many American young people.  The "English
Only" movement just us makes us look like a bunch of isolationist hicks.
 The U.S. dominated the 20th Century, but we will certainly we not in
this century.

Nick Gier




----- Original Message -----
From: david sarff <davesway at hotmail.com>
Date: Sunday, March 11, 2007 4:19 pm
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Words Bring Pause
To: privatejf32 at hotmail.com, vision2020 at moscow.com

> India has two official languages.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_languages_of_India
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >>
> >Sorry - gotta disagree with the good Senator.  In NO other country 
> in this
> >world is this type of discussion ever even taken place or 
> considered.  You
> >move to a country - YOU LEARN THE LANGUAGE!  Period.
> >
> >What does the Senator suggest - we all learn his father's 
> language?  What
> >about the Japanese or the Latin or the Haitian or......it goes on 
> and on 
> >and
> >on.
> >
> >Having one language that everyone speaks, to me, guarantees that 
> we will at
> >least be able to talk to one another and THAT is where democracy 
> starts.  
> >We
> >can't talk, we can't agree, we can't get anywhere.
> >
> >Remember the Tower of Babel......
> >
> >
> >J  :]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >From: "Tom Hansen" <thansen at moscow.com>
> > >To: "Vision 2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> > >Subject: [Vision2020] Words Bring Pause
> > >Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:42:03 -0700
> > >
> > > >From today's (March 11, 2007) Spokesman Review with a very 
> special 
> >thanks
> > >to
> > >State Senator Edgar Malepeai -
> > >
> > >-----------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> > >
> > >Words Bring Pause
> > >
> > >The Idaho Senate voted 20-15 in favor of Senate Bill 1172, 
> declaring> >English
> > >to be the official language of Idaho, in a debate that took a 
> personal> >turn.
> > >
> > >"It's not for shutting people out, but bringing people in," Sen. 
> Mel> >Richardson, R-Idaho Falls, lead sponsor of the bill, told the 
> Senate.> >
> > >Sen. Edgar Malepeai, D-Pocatello, said quietly, "Looking around the
> > >chamber,
> > >I think I'm probably the only one that has English as a second 
> language."> >Malepeai recalled that his late father and uncles 
> served proudly in the
> > >U.S.
> > >military. "They spoke very, very broken English, but they were 
> proud> >American Samoans," Malepeai said. Democracy and freedom "is 
> what unifies
> > >people in this country," he said, "not the English language." A 
> hush fell
> > >in
> > >the Senate after Malepeai's comments, and no one else debated 
> the bill.
> > >
> > >-----------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> > >
> > >Seeya round town, Moscow.
> > >
> > >Tom Hansen
> > >Moscow, Idaho
> > >
> > >"I love my country but fear my government."
> > >
> > >- Author Unknown
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >=======================================================
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> > >           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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> >  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
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> >           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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