Grand Concourse Posted February 5, 2011 Share #26 Posted February 5, 2011 He just does that BS to try to show that he's w/the Latino community... The old I speak your language, we're all the same BS routine. I mean spanish isn't the only major 'other' language in the city. I mean what about the Chinese/Korean/etc. people that lives here? Other than finding some 'local' station that has translations in those language, the SAP does nothing for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share #27 Posted February 5, 2011 I mean spanish isn't the only major 'other' language in the city. I mean what about the Chinese/Korean/etc. people that lives here? Other than finding some 'local' station that has translations in those language, the SAP does nothing for them. From a population standpoint, Latinos are predicted to be the majority in the near future, with their population surpassing that of whites here in the US, so many politicians are aware of this and are already beginning the pandering... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted February 5, 2011 Share #28 Posted February 5, 2011 I agree. It is totally shameful and pathetic about the pandering. If our parents/ grandparents had to learn english, why do some ppl still get special treatment? It's like rewarding them to not learn the language. They got the SAP, what more do they need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share #29 Posted February 5, 2011 I agree. It is totally shameful and pathetic about the pandering. If our parents/ grandparents had to learn english, why do some ppl still get special treatment? It's like rewarding them to not learn the language. They got the SAP, what more do they need? From a earnings standpoint, since I'm a linguist, it certainly benefits me since that means more translation projects for me to manage, so I'm not against it in that aspect. The problem is you can't turn back now. The situation has grown so much in terms of the immigration population here in New York and across the country that states are being forced to impliment changes in places like hospitals and schools, forcing them to have language resources on hand to breakdown language barriers. The city recently set aside some 20 - 30 million dollars for translation services and has 311 services in hundreds of languages. Bloomberg has been a big supporter of immigrants coming to NYC and I don't see that changing. His reasoning is that it gives NYC the edge in recruiting the best talent in the world, thus helping our economy in the long run. The real problem stems at the federal level where we don't have a comprehensive immigration policy, so until that happens don't expect much to change. I agree that there needs to be some sort of balance and I speak several languages. I think it's a matter of respect for the country that you are living in. However, if you're from another country where you don't know anyone and you live in a community where you can maintain your culture and language it's easy to see why you would do that. Fear of the unknown is not easy to deal with. I've never been anywhere where I couldn't speak the country's language. For example when I'd go to Montréal w/friends I felt comfortable because I do speak some French and had no problems moving around the city even though the signs are in French. In Frankfurt (Germany) I was fine as well because some Germans speak English and I do speak a little German myself. I remember when in I was living in Italy, a bunch of us went to the Ferrari Museum on a trip organized by my university there. We made a stop for lunch along the way and there were some of my young peers (I'm sure they were Americans) with us who were petrified apparently because they didn't speak Italian and they couldn't order anything. I ordered, ate my "tramezzino" (sandwich) and came back to order something else and then realized that something was up because they were still there looking puzzled, but at the time I was too hungry to be helping others, so I ordered my stuff and went about my business. Quite frankly I thought to myself, these guys should be able to at least speak enough Italian to order some food for themselves even if they had to point and such seeing that they've been living here for a few months now. B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
checkmatechamp13 Posted February 5, 2011 Share #30 Posted February 5, 2011 I mean spanish isn't the only major 'other' language in the city. I mean what about the Chinese/Korean/etc. people that lives here? Other than finding some 'local' station that has translations in those language, the SAP does nothing for them. Couldn't the city hire a few translators that speak Chinese, Korean, etc for this occasion? From a population standpoint, Latinos are predicted to be the majority in the near future, with their population surpassing that of whites here in the US, so many politicians are aware of this and are already beginning the pandering... I don't think that'll happen in the near future. According to the 2000 census (http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t1/tables/tab01.pdf), whites made up 75.1% of the population, while Latinos made up 12.5% of the population. I think now it is something like 68% white and 16% Latino, so we've still got a long way to go. Certain cities where the population of whites and Latinos were roughly even (in 2000), you might see the population of Latinos surpass that of whites (for example Jersey City, which is now 25% white and 27% Latino might've been a little "whiter" back in 2000), but overall, it'll take a while before that actually occurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share #31 Posted February 5, 2011 Couldn't the city hire a few translators that speak Chinese, Korean, etc for this occasion? I don't think that'll happen in the near future. According to the 2000 census (http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t1/tables/tab01.pdf), whites made up 75.1% of the population, while Latinos made up 12.5% of the population. I think now it is something like 68% white and 16% Latino, so we've still got a long way to go. Certain cities where the population of whites and Latinos were roughly even (in 2000), you might see the population of Latinos surpass that of whites (for example Jersey City, which is now 25% white and 27% Latino might've been a little "whiter" back in 2000), but overall, it'll take a while before that actually occurs. We're talking in the next 30 - 40 years, but who really knows... Those predictions seem to be changing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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