Strict language rules for immigrants proposed

[DurkaDurka]

Please forgive me.

Oh now wait..

Please please please....

I beg you please forgive me I spelt morning I mean mourning wrong.

We don't take kindly to your type in this thread!!! Now git, you, git!

 

[VanIsle]

In '75 while working in Rigaud Que. I was driving a company official to Mirrabel since he was going home to Britain for the Christmas holidays. Since we were a bit early for his flight, we turned into one of those roadside restaurants.
As we walked into the restaurant speaking english of course and sitting at a table...I overheard one waitress tell the other in french "Des ***** anglais, I understand english, but they will have to speak french if they want anything served"
The man wanted something light before his flight and I just wanted coffee to stay awake since I'd had a long day.....so when he ordered, she responded (in french)"Speak french please, I don't understand english...
That's when I told her (In french)What part of toasted tomato sandwitch and two coffees didn't you understand?) and finished of with a "Tabarnak".
She turned around in a flash and brought us our order post-haste.
When it came time to pay the bill $3.95 (remember that was 1975;-)) the man was gonna drop a fiver on the table....when I told him...In Ontario, we pay for the food and tip for the service...
He to back his five and put the exact amount of the bill on the table....
If the look that waitress gave me could have killed:lol:

As you can see I have seen both sides of this language foolishness and one side is no better than the other...

But what did you really see when it really comes down to it? It was an isolated incident and probably the next time the girl was going to say much the same thing, she would have said the same in a more polite manner until she was certain the customers did not speak french. Also, you let your pal know that he should "punish" her by not tipping. What if you had not been able to speak french? She would actually have served you both anyway because all she wants is the tip. In essence, what you did was see to it that she did not receive any accolades for her ability to speak both languages. In a way, you have proven my point. Some people who speak a different language think they can say anything they want to about you or to you if they think you do not understand what they are saying and - they can tell you where to go and how to do it all with a smile on their face and neither you or I would know the difference. We would likely be stupid enough to walk away thinking that even tho they didn't understand us or we didn't understand them, they were at least nice about it.

You know what really bugs me? Some of my neighbors are Korean. When I walk down the street, I can smell the food they're cooking, and I don't like it. Really, I find that offensive. I think that if they want to come here, they should make the effort to cook food that smells like ours.

Quit being an ass. Enough already. I live across from a Chinese Restaurant. Really good food. Bet you wished you did. Takes 20 minutes for dinner to be ready and on the table.

 

[DaSleeper]

But what did you really see when it really comes down to it? It was an isolated incident

Nope, seen it happen many times before..

and probably the next time the girl was going to say much the same thing, she would have said the same in a more polite manner until she was certain the customers did not speak french.

From her demeanor and the rest of her conversation with the other waitress it wasn't the first time but probably the last.

Also, you let your pal know that he should "punish" her by not tipping.

Nope what I said to him is my SOP I pay for the food and tip for the service accordingly.

What if you had not been able to speak french? She would actually have served you both anyway because all she wants is the tip. In essence, what you did was see to it that she did not receive any accolades for her ability to speak both languages.

Nope what she was, was being a bytch and I let her know.

In a way, you have proven my point. Some people who speak a different language think they can say anything they want to about you or to you if they think you do not understand what they are saying and - they can tell you where to go and how to do it all with a smile on their face and neither you or I would know the difference.

Wrong again...What your original beef was two people in private conversation might be talking about you and my point is that if i don't know that they are talking about me, it's no skin of my nose and I am not paranoid about it or have an inferiority complex about it.

We would likely be stupid enough to walk away thinking that even tho they didn't understand us or we didn't understand them, they were at least nice about it.

How can that be stupid....no one is expected to know every language in the world

 

[VanIsle]

D.Sleeper
My original beef was not that I was concerned they were talking about me. It's about them talking loudly in a room full of people pretty much taking over the whole area of a room because they are loud. Those same people will speak english and speak as quietly as most people do. There are loud people everywhere. Why does it have to be that I think they are talking about me? They would have to be looking at me for me to even begin to think that.
I hope it was the last time the waitress acted that way. I just know my ex-daughter-in-law was a waitress and she is also a bytch and always beaked off about people stiffing her!! She is misery itself and is never genuinely nice to anyone. You can tell nice people in the service industry. The smile isn't off their face before they move from your table!! Nothing nicer than a real smile over the phony - give me a tip because I'm being nice to you.
No one is expected to know every language in the world but I'm talking about - when in Canada speak english (or french) like Canadians do. How much can it hurt?

 

[lone wolf]

Speaking English doesn't make anyone quieter.

 

[karrie]

 

[Andem]

Come drive the 401 Karrie
​

You saw that on the 401?!?! I'm used to seeing both French and English on the 401, but Asian languages? The only asian signs I see on the 400s are signs about Asian Long-Horned Beatles in English and French

 

[TenPenny]

Uhm, hello, I'm married... I've been saying no to begging for YEARS.

You obviously heard about the married couple's idea of 'doggie style': the husband sits up and begs, the wife rolls over and plays dead...

D.Sleeper
My original beef was not that I was concerned they were talking about me. It's about them talking loudly in a room full of people pretty much taking over the whole area of a room because they are loud.

Quit being an ass.

Think carefully about what you've written.

 

[DaSleeper]

Two of the women in the room could speak english but chose to speak french. It made many of us quite uncomfortable. Because all of our spouses had the same job in common, we were all invited to the same party. I'm sure they would have found it uncomfortable if everyone around was speaking french and two people who could speak french chose to speak only in english and they could not understand english. In those circumstances, many of us felt that the only reason they would talk to each other in french was to say things they knew most of us did not understand. Their husbands understood of course because they were all from Quebec.

D.Sleeper
My original beef was not that I was concerned they were talking about me. It's about them talking loudly in a room full of people pretty much taking over the whole area of a room because they are loud. Those same people will speak english and speak as quietly as most people do. There are loud people everywhere. Why does it have to be that I think they are talking about me? They would have to be looking at me for me to even begin to think that.

Think carefully about what you've written.

Judging from what Tenpenny wrote, I'm not the only one noticing how the story has changed, it might be in your interest to quit trying to wiggle out of this, you're not helping yourself:lol:

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

You saw that on the 401?!?! I'm used to seeing both French and English on the 401, but Asian languages? The only asian signs I see on the 400s are signs about Asian Long-Horned Beatles in English and French

No Andem, but when the guy who brings an interpreter to his written drivers test I think this is what they're used to. By the way the 401 has its fair share of English speaking idiot drivers too.

 

[VanIsle]

Judging from what Tenpenny wrote, I'm not the only one noticing how the story has changed, it might be in your interest to quit trying to wiggle out of this, you're not helping yourself:lol:

I'm not trying to wiggle out of anything. Everyone keeps insisting that I am saying something different than I mean and maybe I am saying something different than I mean. So - yes - this dead horse has been beaten long enough.

You saw that on the 401?!?! I'm used to seeing both French and English on the 401, but Asian languages? The only asian signs I see on the 400s are signs about Asian Long-Horned Beatles in English and French

Take a trip to Richmond, BC or even just downtown Vancouver (mostly Richmond)

 

[petros]

 

[VanIsle]

Universal Stop Sign???

 

[petros]

Yup. Language is more than just words.

 

[VanIsle]

Speaking English doesn't make anyone quieter.

I've already said that. Some cultures seem to speak very loudly and added to that (have to watch my wording) they come across as being very angry with each other. Then they speak english and they speak in softer voices and they quit sounding angry. I don't get that.

 

[petros]

they come across as being very angry with each other. Then they speak english and they speak in softer voices and they quit sounding angry. I don't get that.

That kinda like having parents and grand parents that don't speak english. They swear and curse at you in their mother tongue and then never swear in english. If I could swear without anyone knowing what I was saying I'd be yelling it too.

From San Francisco:

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

I've already said that. Some cultures seem to speak very loudly and added to that (have to watch my wording) they come across as being very angry with each other. Then they speak english and they speak in softer voices and they quit sounding angry. I don't get that.

People change with another language. If you're from China and English is your second language, you can't express yourself as well in a second language because you have to think more to say your words. People in other countries are often just louder when they speak, they are not angry with each other, they are just more expressive. Italians use more hand movements which we don't. Which is why for some immigrants, they feel stifled coming to Canada. Not everyone can successfully assimilate here, and to create conditions so they don't have to, is a mistake.

 

[TenPenny]

I've already said that. Some cultures seem to speak very loudly and added to that (have to watch my wording) they come across as being very angry with each other. Then they speak english and they speak in softer voices and they quit sounding angry. I don't get that.

Then you should learn some other languages. People speaking Chinese can sound 'angry' to English-speakers because the tone and inflection is part of the language. That's how some words are properly spoken. It's a hard language to learn for that reason, inflection is an integral part of the language.

If you speak the same word with a rising tone, or a falling tone, it has two completely different meanings.

 

[VanIsle]

Then you should learn some other languages. People speaking Chinese can sound 'angry' to English-speakers because the tone and inflection is part of the language. That's how some words are properly spoken. It's a hard language to learn for that reason, inflection is an integral part of the language.

If you speak the same word with a rising tone, or a falling tone, it has two completely different meanings.

I have a nephew who resides in Dubai. He firmly believes all of us should learn to speak Mandarin because he believes we should know the language of those who will rule us and he also believes that will happen soon. He's a well educated man. His eldest son now speaks fluent Mandarin and fluent Thai. I've already said somewhere that his brother speaks fluent Thai and his family speaks fluent english. I don't remember the correct words right now but my great nephew, was taught by the Monks for a year. The reason being for him to learn how to look after his parents when they become old. There is not a great deal of age difference between my two first generation nephews and myself because their mother was 15 years older than me.
While I don't dis-believe my nephew, I'm not going to learn Mandarin or any other language. If it happens in my lifetime that I am ruled by a foreign country, I guess then I may have to learn a new language.

 

[DurkaDurka]

I have a nephew who resides in Dubai. He firmly believes all of us should learn to speak Mandarin because he believes we should know the language of those who will rule us and he also believes that will happen soon.

Hell will freeze over before I'm a subject of the Chinese or speak Mandarin for that matter.