You seem concerned about costs as well as immigrant rights. What would be the cost to taxpayers of printing documents and hiring public workers fluent in several dozen languages? Wouldn’t those dollars be better spent on targeted adult immigrant courses, as well?

Or is it only the rights of Spanish speaking immigrants that you feel are being violated by transacting all OFFICIAL business in English? Are you insinuating that Spanish speakers are less able to learn the language of their new home than were the Europeans, Africans, and Asians that have done so for centuries? Even Native Americans accept English as the nation’s official language. Or should driver’s exams and building permits also be offered in Navajo, Ute, and Osage dialects?

What is wrong with wanting people to learn the language of this country. We were founded by a primarily English speaking people. Why is this considered intolerance? Maybe I don’t want to listen to a five minute recording asking me to choose “numeral dos” if I want to check my bank balance or wait in line for hours while the customer ahead of me animates their wishes when making a purchase because they can’t say Big Mac! Yes, it is about my convenience because my time is as valuable as everyone else.When I travel abroad I am expected to communicate effectively. If I lived in another country I would make an effort to learn the language.

> Immigrants themselves want to learn English more than the people
> who voted for English First measure.

Then why oppose this?

> But ballot measures to coerce English … are counterproductive.

Seems like if immigrants WANT to learn English, they should have no impact at all.

Mr. Bailon, I have no doubt that for educated Hispanics such as yourself, this proposal would have no impact. But for the less educated and less motivated, this is a real problem - and not just in government offices. A few months ago, I went to visit a friend in a west county neighborhood. A tree service had blocked up her cul de sac with several large trucks. I went to ask them to move so that I could get my car out of the driveway - not a single one spoke a word of English, and they just stared at me with blank faces.

“Voters in Nashville yesterday decisively defeated an “English First” special election measure that would have made the Tennessee city of 600,000 people the largest in the country to require all government business to be conducted only in English.”

It’s their tax money. If they want to waste it on translating every official form, announcement, bulletin, legal opinion, and tax receipt into sundry languages, more power to ‘em.

“The vote was lopsided - 57 percent against 43 percent for the English First proposal. Opponents said that the stigma of Nashville becoming a city of intolerance and that the proposal would violate federal civil rights regulations turned the tide against the “one country, one language” brigade.”

What “stigma” would that be? Offending the sensibilities of the hypersensitive? And which federal regulations exactly did they claim would be violated? Funny how the PC brigade always relies on self-rightous emotionalism in lieu of fact.

“How the South has become a crucible of changing demographics and cultural clashes bespeaks how the face of the country is changing.”

This nation’s demographics have been changing since the day the Pilgrims walked onshore. Yet I don’t recall the Irish or Chinese getting too exorcised over the fact a county office didn’t translate deeds into Gaelic or Mandarin. What makes today’s immigrants think they deserve special treatment at taxpayer expense?

“Last November, Missouri voters adopted Constitutional Amendment 1 - which made English the official language for all government proceedings. It was a slam dunk - 86 percent voted for it. We’re still waiting to for anyone to produce a problem that amendment solved but the rhetoric sounded patriotic.”

Only because you don’t want to look for it. Here’s a tip for one of the few remaining reporters your paper employs: Call any local county clerks office and ask them what their budget was last year for form development and printing. Then add 125% for each language you want those forms translated into.

“Que lastima la ignorancia. It takes my breath away that too many people are culturally myopic enough to believe that speaking a language other than English is un-American. High schools and colleges still require foreign-language classes for a reason yet it speaking another language in many places like St. Louis or Nashville can draw cold stares from some. Try it some time.”

Ahh, the “los gringos son zenophobes ignorantes” argument. Granted, St. Louis isn’t quite like your former hometown Mr Baillon, but if you insist on driving PD readers away in droves, please continue to call us unenlightened rubes. Nothing is more endearing to a dwindling subscription base than being mocked by our betters.

“Knock, knock. People all over the world are able to speak more than one language - including English.”

Correction — SOME people all over the world can speak other languages. The rest lanquish in illiteracy in numbers that would stun even the most smug media elitist.

Knock, Knock.

Who’s there?

President Obama.

President Obama, who?

President Obama who doesn’t speak any other languages either but once made the same stupid remark too.

“English is fundamental for success in our country. No debate. The people who know that best are the ones with limited English proficiency. Their lives are emblems of how important education and an ability to speak English are for them and their families to succeed. There is no anti-English conspiracy at work. Just the opposite.”

Really? Then all the sturm and drang from the “government documents must be translated into Tagalog and Hindi” crowd is just a figment of our imaginations?

“But ballot measures to coerce English by denying the use of another language with people in transition while they learn English, our customs, laws and regulations are counterproductive.”

Oh dear, oh dear. “Coercion” is it now? I was unaware the Gestapo was going door to door and dragging newly arrived Bosnians out into the streets for the crime of speaking their native tongue around the dinner table.

Hyperventilate much?

“Nashville spent nearly $300,000 on the special election, which excludes time spent and the dollars poured into both campaigns for ads, yard signs, brochures, etc.”

Which is probably a bargain compared to what taxpayers will be forced to shell out because “TRANSLATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT!” activists want zoning variance applications translated into Urdu.

“What would that amount of money have meant had it been directed to the 10 percent of the non-English speaking people in Nashville for adult English courses and citizenship for the Hispanics, Kurds and Southeast Asians?”

See above. It’s not the 43% of Nashvillians fault there won’t be funds for an extra ESL class at the local community college.

“Immigrants themselves want to learn English more than the people who voted for English First measure.”

Good for them. Now if only we could get whiny liberals to stop impeding their progress.

“Similar proposals in many other cities are a colossal waste of time and money.”

He says without a single shred of evidence.

“Their proponents would accomplish much more for their communities if they redirected that passion to helping immigrants to integrate into American life.”

Right. And you’re arguing that the best way to help immigrants integrate into American life is by fostering their continued segregation into single language and cultural enclaves?

Eso no tiene sentido.

myopic, mr bailon? where’s your foresight in believing that the immigrants who come to this country have the desire to lean our language anyway?
no one is denying the use of other languages, however, i believe we should encourage more immigrants to learn our language.

stats show that immirants live here for several years and yet they still can’t understand or speak our language?!? i disagree with your statement that immigrants want to learn our language… if they truly did - they would show “language initiative” and then actually learn the language. then, theoretically, we wouldn’t have this the english first issue at all, si senor?

> if you insist on driving PD readers away in droves,
> please continue to call us unenlightened rubes

Apparently, it is company policy. While Lee publications keep giving us more of the same, they continue to lay off workers at their publications across the nation. And to prevent from being delisted on the NYSE (you have to stay above $1 a share or they bounce you), they are pushing a reverse stock split. Problem is, 75% of stocks end up trading LOWER after a reverse split. One analyst called it “a flashing red light warning that you may need to kick a stock out of your portfolio.”

http://leewatch.blogspot.com

Well, I think its culturally myopic for the P-D to only print in English.

I fail to see why asking them to learn the language is such a horrible concept.. Do they not want to learn the language of the country that they claim they want so much to be a part of? …Instead we just starting putting spanish on everything, the grocery stores turned into a mexican markets overnight and even WII games have spanish directions in them along with english…I tried to buy a ceiling fan and the spanish writing on the box was huge the english was so tiny I needed a mag glass to see it… WHOS COUNTRY IS THIS ANYWAY.. I felt like the immigrant.. Its like we were invaded and nobody noticed.

It was famed Harvard anthropologist Wade Davis who said, “The world into which you were born is just one model of reality. People from other cultures are not failed attempts at being you. They are unique manifestations of the human spirit.”
For those of you who are troubled by the sound of a language other than English in American, read the above paragraph over and over again until it sinks in.
Also, keep in mind the Pan Germanism movement in Germany the late 1800s. The idea was that all German speaking people in Europe should be united under the same reich. The National Socialist didn’t like the sound of anybody else’s langauge either and so they annexed Austria and the Sudetanland. That worked out well for them, didn’t it?

It takes my breath away Mr. Bailon that you believe that Spanish speaking immigrants want to learn English. If that were true, we would not be having this conversation.

Also, using such English terms as “culturally myopic” is a very good way to not personally attack any English speaking readers of your column. I also do think that the Post-Dispatch should publish the paper in Spanish so that we can all be educated in the superior language of your heritage.

Also, I have tried to see how the word “it” in the fifth paragraph between the words yet and speaking fits or makes sense. Whenever I send a letter to the editor, Jamie has a great time editing my thoughts and grammer. I suggest that you run your copy past Jamie before it makes the comment page.