What immigration Category do you not require the abiity to communicate in either english or french ?
Racist or what?
- Thread starter toughb
- Start date
The only OFFICIAL languages in Canada (and last I checked Ontario is a part of Canada) are English and French. Call me racist if you like but I find it DISGUSTING when someone lives here and even becomes a citizen here but either will not or can not speak one of our languages.I'm not sure where you checked, but there are FAR more Chinese speakers in Ontario than French speakers, and Ontario has no official language, so I have no idea what you mean by "we speak English and French here", it's false. If we were to declare official languages in Ontario then unless it was English only, some form of Chinese is a more viable candidate for an official language than French is.
French does have special status in a few places in Ontario, bills are published in English and French for example, but French does not have the status of an official language in Ontario. Neither does English, nor Chinese.
The only OFFICIAL languages in Canada (and last I checked Ontario is a part of Canada) are English and French. Call me racist if you like but I find it DISGUSTING when someone lives here and even becomes a citizen here but either will not or can not speak one of our languages.
You are a protectionist
You want to preserve your heritage and county.
OK. Racist. You asked for it..The only OFFICIAL languages in Canada (and last I checked Ontario is a part of Canada) are English and French. Call me racist if you like but I find it DISGUSTING when someone lives here and even becomes a citizen here but either will not or can not speak one of our languages.
You also deserved it when you went from expressing a general opinion on policy to using words like "DISGUSTING". You actually earned the label.
To respond to the thread tittle, I'll say 'or what' (insert dumb). Racist might be too strong. Q4L's answer is too simple as there are so many exemption that need to be considered, but it's not unreasonable to consider that someone should be expected to gain a working knowledge of either official language in a reasonable timeframe. Sweden for example expects you to do it in 5 years to gain citizenship and if not, I believe, your are refused any further support and it is suggested you go away.OK. Racist. You asked for it..
You also deserved it when you went from expressing a general opinion on policy to using words like "DISGUSTING". You actually earned the label.
I had some respectful disagreement with Q4L's position when he was just generally saying he felt that everyone should speak English or French. Someone may speak one of those languages well enough to pass immigration tests, to get a job, and be gainfully employed, but still not as well as they speak their mother tongue, and so still may prefer to take in complex information, like a political debate, in, say, Cantonese.
However I lost my respect for his position when he switched to calling hard working and proud Canadian citizens "disgusting" just because they don't speak English or French fluently.
At the point where he started calling people "disgusting" I start calling him a racist.
I know of one woman who never did learn to speak English at all, never mind fluently. She came to Canada with two young children, and she and her husband had three more on Canadian soil. She worked hard menial jobs, two of them, seven days a week, 16 hours a day, for something like 25 years, and by doing that managed to put all five of her children through University. Is she disgusting? She's a hero in my books. One of her five kids is a friend of mine, and whenever I hear the story of his childhood, and just how fucking hard his parents worked to bring their kids up to a better life in Canada, I'm always impressed. Always. Despite her hard life she was proud to live in a country where her hard menial life could launch her children into a better one. She loved that, she was so proud of this country. And to hear her called disgusting! It makes my blood boil.
I would much rather have ten more like her in this country, and one less like him. She's an excellent role model. He's disgusting. Our country is poorer for his having citizenship here, and stronger and better for having had her.
However I lost my respect for his position when he switched to calling hard working and proud Canadian citizens "disgusting" just because they don't speak English or French fluently.
At the point where he started calling people "disgusting" I start calling him a racist.
I know of one woman who never did learn to speak English at all, never mind fluently. She came to Canada with two young children, and she and her husband had three more on Canadian soil. She worked hard menial jobs, two of them, seven days a week, 16 hours a day, for something like 25 years, and by doing that managed to put all five of her children through University. Is she disgusting? She's a hero in my books. One of her five kids is a friend of mine, and whenever I hear the story of his childhood, and just how fucking hard his parents worked to bring their kids up to a better life in Canada, I'm always impressed. Always. Despite her hard life she was proud to live in a country where her hard menial life could launch her children into a better one. She loved that, she was so proud of this country. And to hear her called disgusting! It makes my blood boil.
I would much rather have ten more like her in this country, and one less like him. She's an excellent role model. He's disgusting. Our country is poorer for his having citizenship here, and stronger and better for having had her.
I was once called a racist just because I claimed that some races were genetically superior to others. WTF, this whole politically correct thing has just gone too far.
And because your average terbite is borderline retarded, I guess I have to point out that the above was a joke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkfzQ6qyN1Q
And because your average terbite is borderline retarded, I guess I have to point out that the above was a joke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkfzQ6qyN1Q
Being racist in that context depends on wether or not you consider yourself a member of one of those superior races.I was once called a racist just because I claimed that some races were genetically superior to others. WTF, this whole politically correct thing has just gone too far.
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Why did she never learn english or french ?I had some respectful disagreement with Q4L's position when he was just generally saying he felt that everyone should speak English or French. Someone may speak one of those languages well enough to pass immigration tests, to get a job, and be gainfully employed, but still not as well as they speak their mother tongue, and so still may prefer to take in complex information, like a political debate, in, say, Cantonese.
However I lost my respect for his position when he switched to calling hard working and proud Canadian citizens "disgusting" just because they don't speak English or French fluently.
At the point where he started calling people "disgusting" I start calling him a racist.
I know of one woman who never did learn to speak English at all, never mind fluently. She came to Canada with two young children, and she and her husband had three more on Canadian soil. She worked hard menial jobs, two of them, seven days a week, 16 hours a day, for something like 25 years, and by doing that managed to put all five of her children through University. Is she disgusting? She's a hero in my books. One of her five kids is a friend of mine, and whenever I hear the story of his childhood, and just how fucking hard his parents worked to bring their kids up to a better life in Canada, I'm always impressed. Always. Despite her hard life she was proud to live in a country where her hard menial life could launch her children into a better one. She loved that, she was so proud of this country. And to hear her called disgusting! It makes my blood boil.
I would much rather have ten more like her in this country, and one less like him. She's an excellent role model. He's disgusting. Our country is poorer for his having citizenship here, and stronger and better for having had her.
This is not hard or unusual for immigrant s to Canada, many cultures can live, work, shop, and socialize in their mother tongue because they don't have to do otherwise. When you've got 3 or 4 cultures in the GTA with 500,000+ it quite easy to do this in complete isolation by choice or not.Why did she never learn english or french ?
Unfortunately Fuji there are those who live here all their lives and do not make any effort AT ALL to learn ANY of our languages. These are the ones I have a problem with. The individual person may not be disgusting but their action certainly is. It also shows a HUGE lack of respect for their new 'homeland'. If I moved to a new country and they welcomed me into their 'home' the least I could do is learn their language.I had some respectful disagreement with Q4L's position when he was just generally saying he felt that everyone should speak English or French. Someone may speak one of those languages well enough to pass immigration tests, to get a job, and be gainfully employed, but still not as well as they speak their mother tongue, and so still may prefer to take in complex information, like a political debate, in, say, Cantonese..
Your friends mother does indeed sound like a hero if she raised good kids and put them through school - it is still wrong however that she has never learned either of our languages. What about road signs, legal issues, medical emergencies? My family and I once tried to help an elderly Chinese man who had fallen and was hurt but guess what? No English - it took a long time to track down someone to speak to him (had to get a cop to call in a translater). Lucky it was minor or he could have really been in trouble. Found out from his daughter later that he had immigrated over 20 years prior and never bothered to take ESL.
As I have always said - I have no problem with ANYONE who comes here for a better life - and if you want to keep your own customs and religion and yes even language alive I have no problem with that either. HOWEVER - I don't think it's wrong to expect them to learn one of our languages.
Dunno. Maybe too busy working 16 hours a day to support her kids. Maybe too old to learn a new language. Maybe no aptitude for it.Why did she never learn english or french ?
The dad learned some basic English, enough to do business--he had a little store and spoke enough broken English to serve English speaking customers if they came in. Not enough to follow a political debate though, just business English. He learned as much English as he could and he STILL would be better served by a Cantonese language political debate.
Can't see any good reason why two hard working proud Canadians like those two should be shut out of the political system. They were both proud of Canada and it seems to me they both earned the right to vote.
I disagree, and feel that YOUR attitude here is disgusting.The individual person may not be disgusting but their action certainly is. It also shows a HUGE lack of respect for their new 'homeland'.
Is that the law or are you proposing to petition parliament to get working on it? If it's not the law, let it go.... I don't think it's wrong to expect them to learn one of our languages.
That's why I asked, if they tried to learn english but couldn't , that's fine, if they didn't even put in the effort, then that is extremely dissapointing.Dunno. Maybe too busy working 16 hours a day to support her kids. Maybe too old to learn a new language. Maybe no aptitude for it.
The dad learned some basic English, enough to do business--he had a little store and spoke enough broken English to serve English speaking customers if they came in. Not enough to follow a political debate though, just business English. He learned as much English as he could and he STILL would be better served by a Cantonese language political debate.
Can't see any good reason why two hard working proud Canadians like those two should be shut out of the political system. They were both proud of Canada and it seems to me they both earned the right to vote.
By the time I met them the mom wasn't making any effort to learn English. Maybe she'd tried when they first arrived. The dad had clearly tried, but by the time I met them via my friend, who by then was grown into an adult, they were pretty set in their ways.
Let me re-iterate what sort of personal sacrifice this woman was making: She worked like a slave, two eight hour jobs every day, home to help cook, then a few hours sleep, and back at it, and when the fifth child got accepted to a University outside Toronto they had a problem--the family didn't have enough money to pay for room and board in two different cities. So, instead of saying, sorry you can't go to school, the whole family up and moved to the small town. Dad commuted two hours to work every day, Mom got menial jobs there. It was the only way. They were poor, but they were proud, they never collected welfare, they never asked for a hand-out, they simply worked as hard as they could for the best for their children.
In my books what makes someone a hero is personal sacrifice for the benefit of others. This woman never enjoyed a moment of her life, other than her constant satisfaction that she was doing the best for her kids that she could.
Let me re-iterate what sort of personal sacrifice this woman was making: She worked like a slave, two eight hour jobs every day, home to help cook, then a few hours sleep, and back at it, and when the fifth child got accepted to a University outside Toronto they had a problem--the family didn't have enough money to pay for room and board in two different cities. So, instead of saying, sorry you can't go to school, the whole family up and moved to the small town. Dad commuted two hours to work every day, Mom got menial jobs there. It was the only way. They were poor, but they were proud, they never collected welfare, they never asked for a hand-out, they simply worked as hard as they could for the best for their children.
In my books what makes someone a hero is personal sacrifice for the benefit of others. This woman never enjoyed a moment of her life, other than her constant satisfaction that she was doing the best for her kids that she could.
Im putting no judgement on her at all, I can't don't know enough so ill give benefit of the doubt,she did the best she could.
But in more general terms if someone moves to a country and makes no effort to learn the language ( and that's all I ask for is effort ) that is just plain rude. and also very sad, seems to me a very lonely way to live.
But in more general terms if someone moves to a country and makes no effort to learn the language ( and that's all I ask for is effort ) that is just plain rude. and also very sad, seems to me a very lonely way to live.
Actually it is 'supposed' to be the law. In order to get Canadian citizenship you are (were) required to take a test and say an oath. The test is supposed to be in either English or French - however because of lib bleeding hearts now the test can be taken in other languages. Not sure about the oath.....Is that the law or are you proposing to petition parliament to get working on it? If it's not the law, let it go.
If you allow someone into your home - and you show them respect - then should they not also return that respect?I disagree, and feel that YOUR attitude here is disgusting.
ANYONE can learn some basic conversation skills - all that is required is the will to do so.
People who move to Canada should not be required to learn English or French, what an unreasonable request. Bull fucking shit
Moving to Canada or the US and not bothering to learn the local language is much more douchie then Americans who go overseas and expect everyone to speak "American".
If I move to Japan or Denmark with the intention of staying there for life, I'd learn Japanese or Danish, I'd try to do it before I got there, but sure as hell as get it done when I arrived. Anything else would be a slap in the face to the people of my new country. If you want to live in your own language and culture, stay home.
It is like back in imperial days when folks would move to the colonies and not bother to learn the language, today we see them as the douchebags they were unlike those who would take the effort. There is a reason for that.
Anyone who thinks it is acceptable not to learn the local lingo is worse then this Scott Thompson character from KITH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OalYspN5v7M
Moving to Canada or the US and not bothering to learn the local language is much more douchie then Americans who go overseas and expect everyone to speak "American".
If I move to Japan or Denmark with the intention of staying there for life, I'd learn Japanese or Danish, I'd try to do it before I got there, but sure as hell as get it done when I arrived. Anything else would be a slap in the face to the people of my new country. If you want to live in your own language and culture, stay home.
It is like back in imperial days when folks would move to the colonies and not bother to learn the language, today we see them as the douchebags they were unlike those who would take the effort. There is a reason for that.
Anyone who thinks it is acceptable not to learn the local lingo is worse then this Scott Thompson character from KITH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OalYspN5v7M
