People who are seeking to come to the UK to work or to join a spouse already living here should be required to learn English, an expert body says.
(From the BBC.)
Commission chair Darra Singh averred:
If you can’t speak English, you are on a path to isolation and separation.
I couldn’t agree more.
In fact, I think English for foreigners is is such a good idea that we should start with the English. East Croydon will do for starters. Once I can understand a thing any fucker from there under the age of 25 says, we can start spreading the goodness.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
DocD 02.21.07 at 12:23 pm
Truesay - speak english yea? Like all da expats do in Spain? Which english they talkin’ ’bout? Loncon’s full of it’s own takes on da old lingo. Bengali, Mirpuri, West African, Albanian etc. and da whole of the country has different dialects a & slang Yet another attack on our communities - more peeps speak Urdu/Hindi in UK than speak Welsh. Wake up to that reality.
THX1138 02.22.07 at 8:51 am
LOL. Man, that’s funny.
I think, to be fair though, that Darra Singh has a (limited) point. I’m sure that other european countries have such a requirement (France comes to mind. How do they implement the requirement? What benefits does such a requirement convey?) We’re not talking perfect english, we’re talking enough to get by with. As usual, the devil is in the detail.
shahid 02.22.07 at 1:09 pm
Dear THX1138 - as you probably noticed, I was being facetious.
I have always found it irritating that whilst my mother and father made the effort to learn (and become pretty damn good at) English when they migrated, many immigrants do not.
I don’t know what the answer is, but whereas before I was all “stick” about this, in the current hostile atmosphere, where everyone is more sensitive than usual, I would probably recommend a “carrot” approach.
I do think the decline of English standards in the country generally do not help.
I also think we shouldn’t offer translations at all.
Go to Japan and try getting by with English there for example….or better yet…Bengali….
Not learning the language of your adopted country is disrespectful and arrogant.
(I realise that my stance on this is not what some racist readers of my blog expect, but hey, I’m like that…a closet Mail reader…)
xzsara 02.22.07 at 8:44 pm
Call me a lefty socialist scaremonger or something worse but I have to admit to be worried about where society is heading … Ruth Kelly says translations shouldn’t be provided for everything … fair enough we don’t need information in 15 languages to tell you when your bin is going to be collected, but as a country we used to be proud of our diversity. Now it seems that it is a crime to not want to integrate. A crime to be proud of your heritage, to stand by your religious beliefs.
My parents learnt English, came over to England, lived in one bedroom, fought their way through the years. They were so adamant that I learn English and properly educate myself that it wasn’t until I was fifteen that I learnt how to speak punjabi properly and I must say that I regret that … you lose part of your heritage and culture in forcing people to integrate. I am a pick and mix of English and Pakistani society to the point that I am neither but a chimera of sorts. Perhaps this is the way of the world where we combine the best in all things.
But we have been here before … when the english travelled to the new world, did they assimalate themselves with the native american, did they join in the dream world of the aboriginies in Australia or did they simply extend their empire and create their own communities, renaming towns along the way???
Neil 02.22.07 at 10:58 pm
On the one hand i totally agree Shahid, but I do find the inability of Brits abroad to make the effort to learn even a few words of another language to be pretty pathetic.
Even if its just yes no and thank you!!
Hope you’re doing better, good to have you and your blog back.
Yakoub 02.23.07 at 7:09 pm
I like to pop down to a local halal cafe in my hometown and chat to the guy who runs it. I have to keep my English uncomplicated or else he nods and smiles and changes the subject. It aint that easy learning a second language as an adult fluently. How many native English speakers manage it, with one of the best education systems in the world? Not everyone is a middle class graduate educated civil servant. Get people new to the UK into TESOL, yes, but that cannot be an excuse to pull the rug on language support in public services.
the olive ream 02.24.07 at 3:38 pm
HAHAHA!! bloody fantastic bro, you hit that one for a six!