I'm just pointing out why English is used in your "cousin at the UN in Denmark" example.

The UN would be considered an international organization, wouldn't you say?

I've spent a lot of time in Portugal over the years. Care to guess how much English I've seen or read there (with the exception of in and around Lisbon)?

Posted by tecwrg on 6/12/2016 5:41:00 PM (view original):
I'm just pointing out why English is used in your "cousin at the UN in Denmark" example.

The UN would be considered an international organization, wouldn't you say?

Not at work. I'm talking about his day to day life.

Posted by tecwrg on 6/12/2016 5:42:00 PM (view original):
I've spent a lot of time in Portugal over the years. Care to guess how much English I've seen or read there (with the exception of in and around Lisbon)?

Probably not much.

Posted by bad_luck on 6/12/2016 6:49:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 6/12/2016 5:41:00 PM (view original):
I'm just pointing out why English is used in your "cousin at the UN in Denmark" example.

The UN would be considered an international organization, wouldn't you say?

Not at work. I'm talking about his day to day life.

If he's working for the UN in whatever city he's living in or near in Denmark, then it's a logical assumption that there are many other foreign nationals living there who also work for the UN. Therefore, it's also logical to assume that there is more multi-lingual communication going on in that particular area.

I'm guessing that's not the case for the people living in East Bumfuck, Denmark.

Posted by tecwrg on 6/12/2016 11:22:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 6/12/2016 10:52:00 AM (view original):
I don't think that's likely. But if a third of the population of a city speaks Spanish, it makes sense for that city government to publish things in both English and Spanish.

It's kind of a weird thing to complain about.

Again, you're not answering his question. Yes it's happening. It never used to happen. But now it is. What caused the change?

This is still the HUGE question to me. Why in the heel has this happened after 200 years, and why did we, as a Country, allow it?

P.S. I'm sure bl will be happy when the Muslim immigrants kill the rest of us so there is only one language left.

Like I said before, I'd guess that most immigrants do speak English well enough to get by day to day. But when it comes to reading important and/or complicated documents, reading them in their first language is better.

How much do they have to pay to leave their own country and come here and then get all their complicated documents transcribed? Is it $5 a document? Does it cost more than that? How much does it cost? Per document. Is it $20? $50? $200? $500? Have you looked into it? Can you give me a number? HOW CAN THEY AFFORD TO LIVE HERE?

Posted by DougOut on 6/13/2016 7:44:00 PM (view original):
How much do they have to pay to leave their own country and come here and then get all their complicated documents transcribed? Is it $5 a document? Does it cost more than that? How much does it cost? Per document. Is it $20? $50? $200? $500? Have you looked into it? Can you give me a number? HOW CAN THEY AFFORD TO LIVE HERE?

Not even sure who this question is directed at, but what does their financial situation have to do with anything. Immigrants of all statuses seem to now be content with thumbing their noses at English. I hear it as much at a $100/plate dinner as I do at Wendy's.

what's so great about english

i'm german italian and scotch irish

f*ck english and the angles that sprech it

Shut it, frenchy.

Goddam canuck.

sucer, rak

English is a dumb language. It has far to many inconsistencies and dualities. However, that still doesn't address the questions - For 200 years it was taken for granted that people coming to live in America would learn English and use it in public. When and why did that stop?

Obviously nobody here has any idea either.