By VictorM:

For quite a while now, right-wingers have been preoccupied with English-only, particularly as it applies to immigrants. It has been one of the silliest arguments I’ve observed. This right-winger says this, in a mostly otherwise incoherent post about the topic:

If I emigrated to a country where English was not the language, I would not demand that the government produce signs and panphlets (sic) in English; I’d learn the language. My children would learn it as well if I expected them to succeed in their new land.

Who can argue with that? Of course you would… BY CHOICE! But that’s not what you bozos have been pushing for, is it?

If a country, let’s say Iraq, had the need for workers from America to perform jobs Iraqis can’t or won’t do, would it not be wise for them to have signs, pamphlets, and other literature in English to help facilitate the American workers function in Iraqi society? After all, learning a foreign language is not something that happens overnight. How would you function in that culture until you fully understood their language and customs? Further, the author of the above quote assumes everyone has the same level of intelligence and education, which clearly is not the case for many who come to our shores; many immigrants can barely read or write in their own language. And even further, the author doesn’t factor in the realities immigrants must deal with, such as debt for traveling to the USA, starving families back home, harsh working conditions, exploitive bosses, sub-minimum wage earnings, no driving licenses, etc. To expect such people to have the time or the inclination to go to night school to learn English is nuts.

What’s missed in all this argument is that the vast majority of immigrants DO learn English! Wingers like to focus on a minority that does not, and fail to realize that those who ask for pamphlets in Spanish (or whatever other language) are doing so because they understand that the first few months, or even years, in a foreign land is difficult. Anything that makes immigrants adapt and understand our laws and rules benefit everyone.

It is wise for government and businesses to publish materials in a foreign language if a significant number of immigrants who speak that language live in the area. Learning English, like getting a college degree or joining the army, is something that people should do of their won free will.

My question to the quoted poster is this: are your children learning Spanish? Because if you know what’s best for them, they should be!