Do you believe that anyone existing in America must speak English and only English? If a couple next to you at a cafe are speaking French to each other do you tell them to go back home?
Do you believe that anyone existing in America must speak English
Yeah, eventually. If I’m going to live in a country indefinitely, I’m going to try to learn their language. If I’m in France for more than a year, I’m going to try to learn French. I’d expect the same of friends and family. It’s not racist to expect people living in a place long term to be able to converse with the locals.
If they’re working here for just a summer or two and spending most of the year in another country, no.
So shouldn’t all Americans speak (or at least learn) native American languages? You know, on the account that English isn’t native to America. Neither is Spanish for that matter. Nor French.
America is a country founded upon immigration, so it’s not a comparable example. In broad terms, Japan is historically a fairly homogenous nation ethnically, culturally, and linguistically (and yes, I know those are very broad terms, I’m talking relative to North American countries like the US and Canada).
If the 1600s-1700s had gone differently, and North America remained predominantly populated by Native peoples speaking Native languages, then yeah I’d say it’s totally within their rights to expect visitors to either learn the local language and attempt to integrate, or be left out of certain parts of society such as restaurants that want to cater exclusively to people who speak Algonquin or whatever.
Show up in Algiers and try saying “Sorry, I don’t speak Arabic. Do you have a French menu?”
Do you believe that anyone existing in America must speak English and only English? If a couple next to you at a cafe are speaking French to each other do you tell them to go back home?
I’m not an expert on Japanese culture, but I don’t think they have the “melting pot” cultural identity that America has had historically.
So it’s not xenophobia if you’ve been consistently xenophobic from the start.
Was it xenophobia for Algeria to reject French-speakers?
Yeah, eventually. If I’m going to live in a country indefinitely, I’m going to try to learn their language. If I’m in France for more than a year, I’m going to try to learn French. I’d expect the same of friends and family. It’s not racist to expect people living in a place long term to be able to converse with the locals.
If they’re working here for just a summer or two and spending most of the year in another country, no.
No?
We’re not talking about eventually or indefinitely we’re literally just talking about visiting a restaurant for a meal
So shouldn’t all Americans speak (or at least learn) native American languages? You know, on the account that English isn’t native to America. Neither is Spanish for that matter. Nor French.
America is a country founded upon immigration, so it’s not a comparable example. In broad terms, Japan is historically a fairly homogenous nation ethnically, culturally, and linguistically (and yes, I know those are very broad terms, I’m talking relative to North American countries like the US and Canada).
If the 1600s-1700s had gone differently, and North America remained predominantly populated by Native peoples speaking Native languages, then yeah I’d say it’s totally within their rights to expect visitors to either learn the local language and attempt to integrate, or be left out of certain parts of society such as restaurants that want to cater exclusively to people who speak Algonquin or whatever.
Show up in Algiers and try saying “Sorry, I don’t speak Arabic. Do you have a French menu?”