Kiwi

I've been accused of being both on several occasions...

Are ya'll talking about me? Cuz, I'm a dude... No hard feelings. And no, I'm not from NZ.

Yeah, I heard that too. And French must be more prominent. Don't quote me on this, but I heard all Canadians are required to take French and English in school. Then depending on how pro-French the province is, you can choose to continue it in HS. Could be talking out of me arse--again.

Lots of parking? I reckon if there's a Starbucks, it shouldn't be too bad.

Seeing as how I've probably been to Tacoma like only TWO times in me entire life, I'll probably get lost, end up in Sea Tac, and arrive 2 hrs late.

Goal in life, be fluent in: - German - Italian - Japanese - English Be able to read: - Hindi - Korean - Khmer - Arabic - Hebrew Hopefully I can learn enough Deutsch to get by when I go to WC 2006! Have a German mate going with me, but I'd like to be independent.

Wish I knew [swedish?]... I only know a wee bit o' Deutsch.

I'd come if the thread was more informative. As in... what time shall I be there? As for debate, I hate debating. Don't have the energy, time, or intellect for it. This topic is one of the few exceptions.

Troubling news... Plus suicide is not looked down upon in the same fashion as in other cultures. Suicide is preferred--by both friends and family--over dishonour. Christians look at it as throwing away God's gift. Others see it as running away. The Japanese see it as the sensible thing to do. This is not to say that they kill themselves the first time they fail at something. It's just they have a more 'relaxed' view of it and there's none of the stigma of going to Hell as in Christianity.

I'm liberal except when in comes to English in this country. Democrat, but not socialist. I feel the same way about English in foreign songs. (Leave it out)

1. The country was founded on English 2. Spanish isn't the Lingua Franca--yet. (People predict Mandarin or Spanish, but I think Spanish is more likely) Alot of those other countries adopted English because the rest of the world works in English. Can't say I'm for or against it. French used the diplomatic language. As I mentioned above, people predict that Spanish will supercede English globally in the future. I must admit, it's a very French opinion I have about English in this country. Oh well, it's not like I'm burning crosses over it.

Doesn't make sense in this argument. We conquered them, same reason why most Europeans are Christian. It is no different than if we spoke Japanese or German because the Axis powers won WWII.

Couldn't agree more.

Blood... boiling...

I'm interested, but I'm an absolute noob myself.

When should I show up? Here ya go, mate. http://www.nwbrewpage.com/wabpubs/Engine9.html Engine House No. 9 Pub and Brewery 611 N. Pine Street, Tacoma, Washington Tel: (253) 272-3435 Hours: Sun - Thurs, 11AM - midnight; Fri - Sat, 11AM - 2AM

I want to learn that. Synthetic languages are interesting.

Iran - No, I don't support religious states. NK - No, don't like communism or Kim Il Jong. Looks like i've made enemies.. Bugger.

I'm well aware of that.

I understand that, but it don't like what it represents. (More govt docs will be bilingual) That's why I included that 'damn capitalists' comment. Call me xenolinguaphobic. I'm a language nut (want to be quadralingual), but I want to perserve English in the States. Unless we're being taken over by Spanish speakers militarily, I don't want to see an outsider's language taking over.

Why you bringing up tourists? If those were American expats/immigrants, then I would see your point. It is unfortunate that Americans speak the same language as the de facto Lingua Franca, and that America is the only superpower left in the world so there is no incentive for most Americans to be more worldy. Yeah, I know Spanish is the native/official language in other countries. Yes, I know about the California census. In some areas of the country, whites are the minority. But we're talking about English here--language, not race or ethnicity.

The original argument (by the thread starter) is only valid if we're talking about immigrants. Immigrants should learn the native language, tourists can do whatever. They have enough stuff catered towards them to keep them in their own bubble. Yes, I'm a non-native English speaker. I emigrated to the US back in '86 when I was like 5 years old. We all had to learn English cuz translators are hard to find. My mom, OTOH, never bothered to learn English and now she's fucked when it comes to looking for a new job. We (our language) don't have the popularity of Spanish. We need to learn English.

Fuckin word, mate! I was at McDonalds and I was fuckin pissed when my food had Spanish all over it! Damn capitalists! (Even though I'm a capitalist myself) Wrong! Tolerance my ass! If I was moving to Poland, I better damn well learn Polish to survive. I'm not gonna expect everything to be in English as well as Polish just to appease me. Gives me no incentive or need to learn the native language if everything's fuckin bilingual. That's the issue. I don't expect them to come to America speaking perfect English, but they should make an effort to learn the established language (like every other immigrant that came before them). It's different now. Back in the old days, you had to learn English or be fucked to live in the US. Now, we have all this bilingual shit. Who here still speaks German and Irish? I was at the INS and I swear to God, everything was in Spanish! You had to search for English. This is a fuckin govt building!

I remember that! I don't have much confidence in a sequel.

Whatever you lots decide on, mind posting up the time and address?