Re: Siim Kallas refuses to speak in his Baltic tongue


Eugene Holman wrote:

In article <1156019119.537939.215590@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
"Dmitry" <dmitrijsfedotovs@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

santaka13@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Eugene Holman wrote:
Immigrants are to be distinguished from colonialists, *Herrenvolk* who
settle in foreign countries but refuse to "go native" because they rega=
rd
the local culture and language as inferior to their own and not worth t=
he
effort needed to acquire them.

That used to be true but there is a weird new development going on,
notable particularly in Holland, the Scandinavian countries and
Qu=E9bec. Namely, English-speaking immigrants -but for almost all of
whom English is not their native language - are settling in those
places and are trying to get away with not learning the local language,
forcing the locals to converse with them in English instead.

Majority of Dutch, Swedes, Danes and Norwegians speak good English and
don't mind using it as communication tool. This of course doesn't
encourage immigrants to learn local languages.

In the shorter term it doesn't, but in the longer term it does.

Not really. Let me bring Latvian example. Even today there are
Latvian residents who can't speak Latvian. However, I don't know what
you mean by longer and shorter terms.


In the shorter term, an immigrant to these countries, and Finland should
also be included, can take care of daily affairs and even work in a subset
of available jobs in English. For people from non-English-speaking
countries, interacting in English often means improvinbg their English, a
plus for later employment and furtjer educations.

In the longer term, immigrants who want to fit in and make use of all the
opportunities available have to learn the local language. The locals
expect this of them, and most immigrants realize that they cannot truly
integrate into or even understand the society that they have chosen as
their new home without a comnmand of the local language and the culture
borne by it. Not knowing the local language consigns immigrants to
dead-end jobs such as cleaning, simple construction, and other low-level
jobs requiring a weak mind and strong back.

Regards,
Eugene Holman

It is obvious. Even in Holland one's career would be limited without
fluent knowledge of Dutch.

.

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  • Re: Siim Kallas refuses to speak in his Baltic tongue
    ... settle in foreign countries but refuse to "go native" because they rega= ... places and are trying to get away with not learning the local language, ... encourage immigrants to learn local languages. ...
    (soc.culture.baltics)
  • Re: Siim Kallas refuses to speak in his Baltic tongue
    ... settle in foreign countries but refuse to "go native" because they rega= ... places and are trying to get away with not learning the local language, ... forcing the locals to converse with them in English instead. ... encourage immigrants to learn local languages. ...
    (soc.culture.baltics)
  • Re: Senate Votes English as National Language
    ... voting forms should only be in English. ... some immigrants were invited to this country because of dire ... in their own countries, like Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, etc. ... speak the language and thus were on our welfare roles. ...
    (misc.news.internet.discuss)
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