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[ktulu]

Well, language is a tricky thing. I understand the feeling of being left out when you don't speak what the group is saying. On the other hand, if I moved to, say, Japan and worked at Tokyo Disneyland, I would definitely learn Japanese (easier said than done!), but if I had English-speaking co-workers, I'd probably be happy to speak English with them on my breaks. I imagine that's what the Spanish-speakers are doing; they're surrounded by English, their second language, most of the time, so they find it relaxing to be able to use their native language when they can.

That said, that totally doesn't excuse those jerks making rude, sexist comments. That's just gross. Really, they should be reprimanded for promoting a hostile work environment.

Actually, the Japanese would be happy to practice their English with you :)

Oh, and Japanese is not that hard to learn.

[Amphigorey]

Actually, the Japanese would be happy to practice their English with you :)

Oh, and Japanese is not that hard to learn.

English, on the other hand, is a notoriously hard language to learn as an adult.

[PrinceOfSka]

I don't know, some native Spanish speakers are good about trying to keep conversations in English around English only speaking employers, even at the mouse. I know a lot of people who are considerate and know it can make people feel left out, but on the other hand I think there are more who take pride that nonspanish speakers can not decipher what they are saying. This actually was confirmed to me at my other job by my "BFF" who is Puerto Rican. She says its a common game that is played on un English speakers - see what you can get away saying.

So in that regard I do have to say I think perhaps English should become an official language, business would just be much smoother.

[Amphigorey]

So in that regard I do have to say I think perhaps English should become an official language, business would just be much smoother.

Would it? What difference would it actually make?

It would be more expensive, for one thing. You'd have to put a bureaucracy in place to handle English being the "official" language, and that takes money that the US doesn't have.

Really, it's unnecessary. English is by far the most dominant language in the US. People who come here WANT to learn English; you don't have to force them, and you certainly don't have to make extra laws to make sure they do it.

Yes, there are a lot of workers at WDW and other places who are in positions that require a higher command of English than they have, as described by Eeyore's Butterfly. However, the problem there isn't the ESL people; it's a bigger problem. It's an employment issue that management and the higher-ups at Disney need to fix. Disney's been short of workers for several years now, which is why they advertise heavily and recruit (for example) Puerto Ricans to come work there. You know what would go a long, long way towards solving that issue? Not English classes - higher wages. Then people who are working at Walgreens instead of WDW because it pays better will be knocking on Disney's door, instead of turning them down because the wages suck.

As a character performer in 2005, I made $7.35 an hour. Granted, I was college program, so I was on the low end of the scale, but for the kind of work I was doing, that's an insanely low wage - and the people who make more than that don't make THAT much more. It's not a living wage by any stretch of the imagination.

[hobie16]

Actually, the Japanese would be happy to practice their English with you :)

I taught a class in Moscow for Sprint Russia. One my students got over the shock of me not being Rambo, I spent all the lunch periods clearing up misunderstandings about English they'd been learning. If nothing else, by the end of the week they all knew how to say, "Cowabunga Dude!!"

[drcorey]

Sometimes it don't work well thou,
chatting in line one day I replyed to a american in a japanese way, after he finished I said, AhSo, he said, what did you call me??

[hobie16]

Actually, the Japanese would be happy to practice their English with you :)

Oh, and Japanese is not that hard to learn.

Don't ever say nuke 'em in Finland.

[Switchbeam 9]

Actually, the Japanese would be happy to practice their English with you :)

Oh, and Japanese is not that hard to learn.

I have been learning Japanese every day for many years. It continues to amaze me how much I don't know about the language. Especially when it comes to idioms and whatnot from folk stories and the 四字熟語 mostly taken from China (or as the Japanese would say "borrowed"). It's not just that but the speed at which it is spoken with all the colloquial expressions younger Japanese speakers will say but are needed to know to navigate the Internet fan spheres.

I spend a lot of time on Japanese websites because I am really big into JCORE, Tokyo Speedcore, and several trance artists I like in Japan. My reading is good but speaking could take some practice as I don't use it as much as I would like.

JCOREミュージックを聞く盛んなる。

[hobie16]

My daughter has been taking Japanese for two years. She can read it very well and chats up tourists in town. They're always quite amazed.

The town I lived in on the Mainland started a Mandarin immersion school. Our former neighbor started their daughter in it at age 3. They went to China for a medical conference where the locals were in jaw dropping amazement that a four year old blue eyed blond could speak the language so well.

They went on a tour with a bunch of Stanford Hospital docs. Their daughter did all the interpretation for the group. Pretty cool

[Switchbeam 9]

That's cool! Amazing how fast young kids can pick up this stuff! She should e proud. The CIA lists Japanese and Chinese as a level 5 language (hardest group for native English speakers). Reading it is a lot of fun. 3 writing systems and grammar allows for amazing customization of sentences and expressions. There are a great deal of synonyms and heteronyms in Nihongo. (example of a heteronym: 日　read: ニチ ジツ ひ -び -か あ あき いる く くさ こう す たち に にっ につ へ　(pronunciation in katakana is onyomi) and vast different meanings and uses) some will even give the exact same definition but their use must be very specific to the context or you sound like "baka gaijin" and trust me, we all do :D

Mandarin is an interesting language. Tones make it tough but the grammar is the exact opposite of Japanese's very complex grammar. Conjugation is non-existant (they use simply auxiliaries such as 了 instead) and there is no need to worry about compounding. Japanese has compounding and then Kunyomi 訓読みand Onyomi 音読みreadings, often many of both. Onyomi sounds similar to Chinese because they all came from China centuries ago. 水　sui ... 水 shui (as in Feng Shui) and some funny things like 手紙　(tegami) means "letter" lit: hand (手　te) + paper (紙 kami)　手纸 (shou3 zhi3) in Chinese is a slang for toilet paper :D