Kids kicked off of bus for speaking ENGLISH

[JohnRM]

It never says in the article that they were kicked off enroute home, it merely says they were denied a ride home. Didn't you read it?

(see, now I am right, cause I whipped out the roll-eyes smilely)

When I said that they were kicked off of the bus enroute home, I was saying that the bus was to be heading outbound, not inbound.

 

[blackheart]

I know english, I'm no disconveniance to anyone.

Disconvenience. Dear god, let's not let people be disconvenienced by children trying to learn!

Americans have become a bunch of pansies?

I could have sworn the massive influx of German immigrants in the early 1900s didn't know English either. Look how that turned out!

 

[Trajan12]

How did they get here if they haven't learned English? Wouldn't it make sense for that to be a prerequisite for living here? I would think that people would want to learn the language first before coming. That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[potatokiosk]

When I said that they were kicked off of the bus enroute home, I was saying that the bus was to be heading outbound, not inbound.

Kicked of the bus en route home means they were literally removed from the bus on the way home, which did not happen. Your English needs work.

 

[Urederra]

What Cuivienen says

The bus route was meant to serve a language academy at Phalen Lake for children learning English.

They were in the wrong bus.

And where in the article says that the other children were hispanics?

 

[blackheart]

How did they get here if they haven't learned English? Wouldn't it make sense for that to be a prerequisite for living here? I would think that people would want to learn the language first before coming. That doesn't make sense to me.

People come here THEN learn English, it's how it's always been. It's kind of hard to learn American English when you aren't in an English speaking country isn't it?

 

[Ansar]

It's kind of hard to learn American English when you aren't in an English speaking country isn't it?

I learned pretty good English when I was in a Bilingual school in Colombia.

 

[Cuivienen]

Let me explain what the situation probably is, without any of the sort of xenophobic idiocy going on here.

1. The Armstrong children went to Phalen Lake School.
2. There was a separate Hmong-English school at Phalen Lake School for Hmong students learning English. Because the Hmong community is small, it covers more than one public school district.
3. The Armstrong family moves out of the district of Phalen Lake School.
4. The Armstrong parents do not realize that their children can no longer attend Phalen Lake because they moved and try to send them there anyway.
5. A Hmong-English school bus passes near to the Armstrong family's house.
6. The Armstrong parents load their children onto the Hmong-English school bus and send them to Phalen Lake School.

Now, you see the problem? The students should not be going to Phalen Lake School as they live in a different school district. The Hmong-English school, however, covers a wider area than the standard public school, so their buses do reach where the Armstrongs now live. The Armstrong students, however, cannot take the Hmong-English school bus to Phalen Lake because they do not attend the Hmong-English school, and probably are not even allowed to attend Phalen Lake School without a school voucher. (Such mistakes as students continuing at a public school after moving out of the district are common but not allowed.)

 

[bob bobato]

You don't think that it is wrong to segregate the bus system, not to mention that there apparently is no bussing route for English-speaking children for that particular neighborhood?

Dont move to Quebec. Here, its illegal for english to be larger than french on signs, and its illegal to send your kids to an english school if you yourself didn't go to one. And during he late 80's it was illegal for english to be on street signs, no matter the font.

 

[Enkidu Warrior]

Why do some people think they are better than everyone else?

You mean like native English speakers?

 

[Urederra]

Almost perfect, Cuivienen, the only thing you have to explain now is what is that Hmong thingy. (

 

[Trajan12]

People come here THEN learn English, it's how it's always been. It's kind of hard to learn American English when you aren't in an English speaking country isn't it?

Can the immigrants speak enough English to function in an English speaking country? How much English do they know? I would think that it'd be enough to go to school with American children. I know immigrants and their children learn that way. And we have people who teach English in other countries and with the Internet their are plenty of ways to learn an at least small amount of English.

 

[Ansar]

Dont move to Quebec. Here, its illegal for english to be larger than french on signs, and its illegal to send your kids to an english school if you yourself didn't go to one. And during he late 80's it was illegal for english to be on street signs, no matter the font.

No wonder Quebec is very French...

 

[sysyphus]

Why is it people in english speaking countries whinge constantly about people coming from other countries and not speaking it when the are tonnes of anglophones moving to non-enlgish speaking countries and not learning teh languange of the country they have moved to?

I've seen it in China, Korea, the Netherlands, Argentina... just to name a few.

Never mind all the Englsih speaking tourists who are so cheap that they can't spend a bit of money on a simple phrase book when they travel so that they can at least approach the locals in their own language and ask if they speak english, instead the majority of anglophones just walk up to people and start speaking english to them right away... in a very loud voidce because somehow they think that'll help the person understand.

Those who live in glass houses...

 

[blackheart]

Can the immigrants speak enough English to function in an English speaking country? How much English do they know? I would think that it'd be enough to go to school with American children. I know immigrants and their children learn that way. And we have people who teach English in other countries and with the Internet their are plenty of ways to learn an at least small amount of English.

... What point are you trying to make here?

Speaking from personal experience, my parents knew very little English when we moved here, but enough to get by. They still don't know that much but it's enough to go to work, grocery store, shopping, etc. It only takes an intolerant people to make it a barrier to anything.

 

[Trajan12]

Why is it people in english speaking countries whinge constantly about people coming from other countries and not speaking it when the are tonnes of anglophones moving to non-enlgish speaking countries and not learning teh languange of the country they have moved to?

I've seen it in China, Korea, the Netherlands, Argentina... just to name a few.

Never mind all the Englsih speaking tourists who are so cheap that they can't spend a bit of money on a simple phrase book when they travel so that they can at least approach the locals in their own language and ask if they speak english, instead the majority of anglophones just walk up to people and start speaking english to them right away... in a very loud voidce because somehow they think that'll help the person understand.

Those who live in glass houses...

For the record I would ask the English speaking people living in other countries that cannot speak the language the same thing. I just think it is more practical to know enough of the language that you can at least live like a normal citizen.

 

[Ansar]

Can the immigrants speak enough English to function in an English speaking country? How much English do they know? I would think that it'd be enough to go to school with American children. I know immigrants and their children learn that way. And we have people who teach English in other countries and with the Internet their are plenty of ways to learn an at least small amount of English.

Immigrants dont need to speak English here in Florida to go to school. They are placed in a special program called ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and they take that instead of English I, II, III, and IV or already know English and manage to get out of ESOL and into English. I was taught in a bilingual school in Colombia, so when I arrived in the US, my English skills were good enough to be able to hold a conversation with other students, plus I managed to pass the ESOL test. Not all hispanic immigrants are dummys who dont know English.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

Dont move to Quebec. Here, its illegal for english to be larger than french on signs, and its illegal to send your kids to an english school if you yourself didn't go to one. And during he late 80's it was illegal for english to be on street signs, no matter the font.

Even when over 10% percent of english words are french in origin? Wow, that's bad.

They HAD to make an exception for when the words were identical, I hope.

Oh, I looked up Hmong, and it's asian, not hispanic. The definition didn't go into much more than that, though.

 

[Cuivienen]

Almost perfect, Cuivienen, the only thing you have to explain now is what is that Hmong thingy. (

Hmong is a culture and language in southern China, Laos and Vietnam, distinct from Chinese, Laotian and Vietnamese. There's a fairly large Hmong immigrant community in Minnesota and Wisconsin, of all places.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Hmong are an ethnic group living in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. A lot came after the Vietnam War, and are settled in the Midwest.

Edit: x-post.

And Trajan: imagine, if you will, trying desperately to make a living in a country that has few job opportunities, then realizing the only way to live is to uproot yourself and move to another country where you will work 16 hours a day to survive. Learning the language first is a luxury very few can afford.

Seriously, the ignorance of actual immigrant conditions constantly displayed by Anglochauvinists always amazes me.