Monolingualism only serves to promote ignorance

[Eireannach]

Monolingualism only serves to promote ignorance


Its is clearly obvious that monolingualism(speaking just one language) promotes ignorance towards other cultures, societies and linguistic groups. If we look at the Roman Empire, we can see that tens of millions of people from Europe to Africa and the Middle-East all shared the same language and culture. Latin became the lingua franca of the then known world. Like all empires, they eventually collapse and the title of lingua franca passes onto another culture and language group. Few empires have been bilingual or multi-lingual, if they were it is certain they would have lasted longer than they did. If we look at the French, British, Spanish and Portuguese empires, many language groups were anihilated to make way for the French, Spanish, Portuguese and English languages. The new “empire builders” told the speakers of these indigenous African and American languages that their languages and way of life were completely inferior, banned their languages and religious beliefs. But these monolingual empires were not to last, and why is that, because they do not embrace diversity and only represent one perspective, that of the coloniser.


It is because of this, that I believe bilingualism and multi-linguism is truly the way to go, to create an open and inclusive society, where all cultures, religions, ethnic groups and linguistic minorities are valued and appreciated as they ought to be.



In Quebec, I see two "old world empires" fighting it out for language supremacy, English and French. This language strife needs to be resolved as it is detracting attention away from those new immigrants who don't speak either French or English and who are forgotten about because the language strife between the two official languages takes up so much time and space in the media. Making Montreal or even the province of Quebec bilingual would go along way to resolving the problem.:lol:

 

[Praxius]

I currently have no need to learn another language in any great detail because my job and life do not interact regularly with anybody from another language, thus suggesting that I learn more languages would be a waste of my time.

I don't disrespect nor play ignorant towards other cultures other then my own, nor do I claim my way of life/culture is better then any others...... nor does my lack of knowing other languages somehow diminish my ability to learn and educate myself on different cultures.

Besides, there's other ways of communicating with someone of a different language other then learning their language or them learning my own.

The reasons why the empires you listed died off have a lot more involved in their particular situations then just holding to one language and assimilating others into their language/culture.

The problem with Quebec vs. the rest of Canada is that while making the province officially bilingual like New Brunswick may solve much of the current issues, there are many in Quebec who revolve their thinking so much around their french language that if they saw any attempt to make the province bilingual in any official manner, they would see it as yet another attack on their culture and way of life and use it to further support their division from the rest of the country.

You can just tell people to become bilingual and expect it to suddenly solve all their problems.

You speak about protecting cultures and ways of life from assimilation as well as isolation from other cultures, but forcing people to take up other languages based on "Understanding" is very much the same action as forcing those people to take up other languages based on being conquered...... just because you change the original intentions does not mean the actions are somehow different, nor will the end results be any different.

In either case, you are forcing people to change their way of life to suit some other person's vision, even if you say they can retain their existing culture, you are still indirectly changing their culture over a period of time, thus attempting to protect or preserve various cultures by any means is kind of impossible unless you completely isolate that culture from the rest of the world.

Every culture evolves over time, they adapt in their own ways with or without protection or interference.

How many languages would you suggest an individual learn?

Two? Three? As many as possible??

Because I live in Canada, should I be forced to be just as fluent in French and I am in English?

What if I prefer to learn Gaelic rather then French? Not only is it a part of my own heritage, it is still spoken in areas of my province, and in some areas, more then French.

The thing is, while your problem may or may not exist as you described, there is no easy fix solution that can be made and any suggested solutions anybody can think of will not only be complicated and time consuming, but there's no guarantee any of these complicated/time consuming solutions would solve a problem that may or may not exist as you described.

 

[no color]

Quebec was indeed a bilingual province up till the mid-1970's when bill 22 was introduced by the Quebec Liberal government, removing Quebec's bilingual status and making French the only official language of the province. Many of us English speaking Quebeckers voted for the Union National party as a result, and many of us to this day will still not vote for the Liberal party. I will not vote for a party that has me segregated to second class citizen.

The only solution to this never ending issue is for the Federal government to intervene. They can force the issue and pass a FEDERAL LAW to once again declare Quebec a bilingual province and scrap any language laws that violate civil rights (like bill 101). If folks here in Quebec start getting violent, the Federal government can and should use it's armed forces to restore order. Martial law would surely be in place. If our Canadain troops require assistance, I'm darn sure our American friends would help us out (with troop reinforcement) as it would be for a just cause, restoring law and order as well as civil liberties for all Canadians. :canada:

 

[Nuggler]

Mongolionism promotes what??

Sheesh.

Pretty racist.

Some of my best buddies are mongols

Hordes and all.................:wav: (just like these guys)

Ghelngiss Klan.

 

[wulfie68]

The only solution to this never ending issue is for the Federal government to intervene. They can force the issue and pass a FEDERAL LAW to once again declare Quebec a bilingual province and scrap any language laws that violate civil rights (like bill 101). If folks here in Quebec start getting violent, the Federal government can and should use it's armed forces to restore order. Martial law would surely be in place. If our Canadain troops require assistance, I'm darn sure our American friends would help us out (with troop reinforcement) as it would be for a just cause, restoring law and order as well as civil liberties for all Canadians. :canada:

I don't know if such a law would be constitutional but if it was, the Quebec provincial gov't would once again be within their constitutional rights to invoke the notwithstanding clause as they have done on other occasions, especially with the language laws.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Its is clearly obvious that monolingualism(speaking just one language) promotes ignorance towards other cultures, societies and linguistic groups.... Few empires have been bilingual or multi-lingual, if they were it is certain they would have lasted longer than they did. ,,, But these monolingual empires were not to last, and why is that, because they do not embrace diversity and only represent one perspective, that of the coloniser.

I don't think any of those claims are obvious at all, in fact I think they're false, but what I think you're really doing is looking for a simple explanation for very complex historical events, and going nowhere with it. .

The usual word, BTW, is unilingual, not monolingual.

 

[s_lone]

The only solution to this never ending issue is for the Federal government to intervene. They can force the issue and pass a FEDERAL LAW to once again declare Quebec a bilingual province and scrap any language laws that violate civil rights (like bill 101). If folks here in Quebec start getting violent, the Federal government can and should use it's armed forces to restore order. Martial law would surely be in place. If our Canadain troops require assistance, I'm darn sure our American friends would help us out (with troop reinforcement) as it would be for a just cause, restoring law and order as well as civil liberties for all Canadians. :canada:

Quebecers would't get violent. They'd simply have a referendum to separate and win with something like at least 60%. How can you fail to see this?

 

[JLM]

I don't think any of those claims are obvious at all, in fact I think they're false, but what I think you're really doing is looking for a simple explanation for very complex historical events, and going nowhere with it. .

The usual word, BTW, is unilingual, not monolingual.

I was always under the impression "mono" and "uni" mean the same thing.

 

[taxslave]

There is a good reason to have a unilingual country. Actually several but the most important is that when everyone speaks the same language there is far less misunderstanding. Also saves taxpayers a ton of money on worthless repeats. Don't want to speak English then don't live here.

 

[JLM]

There is a good reason to have a unilingual country. Actually several but the most important is that when everyone speaks the same language there is far less misunderstanding. Also saves taxpayers a ton of money on worthless repeats. Don't want to speak English then don't live here.

You hit the nail right on the head, Taxslave. When Wolf defeated Montcalm on the Fields of Abraham in 1759, the French should have either cleared out or learnt English.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

I was always under the impression "mono" and "uni" mean the same thing.

They do, but mono- as a combining form is from Greek and uni- is from Latin, as is lingual, and bi- and tri- and multi-, so unilingual, bilingual, trilingual, multilingual, etc. are purely Latin in origin and are the more common terms, monolingual combines Greek and Latin roots and is less common in usage. It's also a little more awkward to pronounce, seems a bit of a clumsy construction to me. I like good words, and it seems to me that such combined terms are more mellifluous if their roots are from the same language. Unilingual, rooted in one language, rolls off the tongue more easily than monolingual, rooted in two languages. Similarly, monogamy, from mono- and gamia, the act of marriage, are both from Greek, and it's a much nicer word than combining the Latin and Greek to produce unigamy.

Quebecers would't get violent.

I seriously doubt that. They've got violent before, no reason to think they wouldn't do it again.

 

[JLM]

They do, but mono- as a combining form is from Greek and uni- is from Latin, as is lingual, and bi- and tri- and multi-, so unilingual, bilingual, trilingual, multilingual, etc. are purely Latin in origin and are the more common terms, monolingual combines Greek and Latin roots and is less common in usage. It's also a little more awkward to pronounce, seems a bit of a clumsy construction to me. I like good words, and it seems to me that such combined terms are more mellifluous if their roots are from the same language. Unilingual, rooted in one language, rolls off the tongue more easily than monolingual, rooted in two languages. Similarly, monogamy, from mono- and gamia, the act of marriage, are both from Greek, and it's a much nicer word than combining the Latin and Greek to produce unigamy.

I hear you. :smile:

 

[s_lone]

I seriously doubt that. They've got violent before, no reason to think they wouldn't do it again.

Are you referring to the FLQ? If so, can you really say the FLQ represented Quebec as a whole?

---

If the federal government declared a law which forced Quebec to declare itself bilingual, there would be huge opposition in Quebec and it would most likely lead to a successful referendum. I would be among the first to vote YES. If someone as ''in-the-middle'' as me would be so eager to vote YES in such a situation, you can be sure most people who are also ambivalent about the Quebec-Canada issue would also do so. Even the federalist party in Quebec supports the fact that the only official language of Quebec is French.

The reason why I doubt Quebecers as a whole wouldn't get violent is because of the common certainty we'd have here in Quebec that this issue could and would very easily be solved by Quebec separating. The only reason for Quebecers to get violent is precisely if the federal government tried to use force to impose its will.

 

[captain morgan]

The Habs win a game in playoffs - Riots
The Habs lose a game in playoffs - Riots

Not really a great track record.

 

[El Barto]

You hit the nail right on the head, Taxslave. When Wolf defeated Montcalm on the Fields of Abraham in 1759, the French should have either cleared out or learnt English.

Your are seriously supporting the missguided views of the OP?

 

[s_lone]

Your are seriously supporting the missguided views of the OP?

He probably also thinks that half of Africa should belong to the UK.

 

[MapleOne]

I'm all for bilingualism if it goes both ways. In Quebec they outlaw English and in the rest of the country French is forced upon us. I don't speak French and do not care to see it on my products, why must I endure it just to make one Province happy? Send the products to Quebec with a French label and leave me in peace. Forcing a second language down my throat only makes me resent it more.

I have visited Quebec and have the highest respect for their culture and language but in the rest of Canada I want to speak English without constantly having to battle past those damn French labels.

A second pet peeve is when I make a call and the call centre is based in Ontario but they speak French first and you have to pick 1 or 2 to select language. Why must the French always come first when the clear majority speaks English.

So in my opinion it is not about Monolingualism but about choice. My choice is that I will attempt to speak French when I visit Quebec, the rest of the time leave me to my Monolingual Ignorance please.

 

[s_lone]

I'm all for bilingualism if it goes both ways. In Quebec they outlaw English and in the rest of the country French is forced upon us. I don't speak French and do not care to see it on my products, why must I endure it just to make one Province happy? Send the products to Quebec with a French label and leave me in peace. Forcing a second language down my throat only makes me resent it more.

I have visited Quebec and have the highest respect for their culture and language but in the rest of Canada I want to speak English without constantly having to battle past those damn French labels.

A second pet peeve is when I make a call and the call centre is based in Ontario but they speak French first and you have to pick 1 or 2 to select language. Why must the French always come first when the clear majority speaks English.

So in my opinion it is not about Monolingualism but about choice. My choice is that I will attempt to speak French when I visit Quebec, the rest of the time leave my to my Monolingual Ignorance please.

Are you seriously complaining about French on products that YOU buy. Does French cause damage to your eyes? Gimme a break. If you have a problem with French being taught in schools outside Quebec that I can understand. But French on products has got to be the most ridiculous reason to complain about the bilingual status of Canada vs. the francophone status of Quebec. We get both languages on our products too. Do you hear anybody complaining?

I wholeheartedly support Canadians who'd rather have English only in the rest of Canada. But spare me the crap about French being ''forced down your throats'' because of the products you buy.

 

[captain morgan]

I'm all for bilingualism if it goes both ways. In Quebec they outlaw English and in the rest of the country French is forced upon us. I don't speak French and do not care to see it on my products, why must I endure it just to make one Province happy? Send the products to Quebec with a French label and leave me in peace. Forcing a second language down my throat only makes me resent it more.

I have visited Quebec and have the highest respect for their culture and language but in the rest of Canada I want to speak English without constantly having to battle past those damn French labels.

A second pet peeve is when I make a call and the call centre is based in Ontario but they speak French first and you have to pick 1 or 2 to select language. Why must the French always come first when the clear majority speaks English.

So in my opinion it is not about Monolingualism but about choice. My choice is that I will attempt to speak French when I visit Quebec, the rest of the time leave my to my Monolingual Ignorance please.

The solution to this issue can be achieved without any force required whatsoever (part ref to the OP).

The Feds and the provinces can make all kinds of announcements relative to "official" languages. The problem is that there is legislation that forces both languages on everyone (ie labels or gvt office).

Eliminate the legislation (while maintaining the "official" position) that requires absolute communication in both languages and allow the marketplace to service those communities as they see fit whether it be English, French or Punjabi.

 

[JLM]

He probably also thinks that half of Africa should belong to the UK.

Actually I haven't given that any thought, but I suppose that might be a good subject to debate. :smile: