Bilingual at the work place... another try at this..

[hemi68charger]

Well I can say one more thing about this topic, and that is this. We are doing an injustice to our students by only teaching them 1 language at an early age anyways. Children around the world are taught their native tongue, along with 3-4 multiple languages in schools, and they cope just fine. Growing up in Thailand, I saw Thai kids that spoke Thai, Laotian, Lahu, Lisu, and English, all by the age of 10. And I'm not talking talking a little, but all on the same level. The schools would teach them Thai, and English. They would have to learn Laotian, Lahu, Lisu, or other languages to talk to their parents, grand parents, or people who lived around in their neighborhoods, that were imigrants to the Northwest of Thailand.
Our school systems here in the United states are behind the majority of the advanced countries in this world at teaching anything, let alone trying to teach our children foreign languages. Not many schools actually challenge children, or make learning exciting.

I totally agree with you Danny.... That's why I teach Jacob Spanish and starting some French. I'm a major proponent of a foriegn language taught in schools... But, alas, and this thread has seemed to shift gears on me, the topic was the work place, not academia...

I tell my friends a joke...

What do you call someone who speaks two languages?.............  Bilingual
..
..

What do you call someone who speaks three languages?...............Trilingual
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What do yo call someone who speaks one language?.................... American........


Troy

[hemi68charger]

Yeap, don't think the UN would appreciate our President telling someone to f*(& themselves..

The UN didn't appreciate our president telling them to fo f*** themselves 3 years ago...

Nope, but he didn't articulate it as Jorge did.. lol

Actions speak louder than words.........

Troy

[nh_mopar_fan]

Yeap, don't think the UN would appreciate our President telling someone to f*(& themselves..

The UN didn't appreciate our president telling them to fo f*** themselves 3 years ago...

He had to go and end their "oil for palaces" graft. 

[hemi68charger]

Yeap, don't think the UN would appreciate our President telling someone to f*(& themselves..

The UN didn't appreciate our president telling them to fo f*** themselves 3 years ago...

He had to go and end their "oil for palaces" graft. 

Oh darn, what a shame......   

[69_500]

Yeah, sorry about shifting the gears from languages in the work place to school. Just a little rant I have with American Schools.
We as America expect the world to revolve around us. We expect people in foreign countries to speak English when we go there, and we expect them to speak English when they move here. But something is missing in this equation? When are we going to start learning other languages, or heck how about maybe teaching Geography to most people in America.

Okay back to the work place. I don't think there is anything wrong with incorporating a single spoken language in a work place. During work hours. If its a break time, that is one thing to speak in a native tongue, but another especially in this case. They already set aside time for other languages to be spoken and taught, so leave them at that.