Nazen: ve vud be speking german as u sa... in urup

But I'm in the US of A... and an American... where it seems that we need to learn ebonics and Spanish and lots of other languages, so we can communicate with our neighbors, some of whom refuse to speak English...

Truthfully, I must admit to a prejudice against people who come to the US, and refuse to learn to speak English, which IS our official language... I have no problem with immigrants who want to speak their native language and maintain their customs at home, while communicating in English in business, and when dealing with various services. I know there is a "learning curve" and allowance should be made to help those who are new here, but I've seen people who have been here for several years and either can't or won't learn to speak English.

Edited to add:

P.S.
I'm not sorry, Nathen... you are the one who inappropriately appropriated the Birthday thread, and you deserved it... (You probably enjoyed being slapped around, too!)

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Wyldflower on Jan 08, 2003 ---</FONT></center>

Just want to add that I acknowledge that we, here in the US, should also take a clue from other nations, where their children are taught several other languages all through their school years... for example, a friend from the Netherlands tells me that kids can't graduate unless they are passably fluent in: Dutch, German, English and French... all four languages...

BUT they would expect that people who relocate to within their country would learn to speak, read and write Dutch!

Another reason for us to be ashamed of ourselves--not learning other languages--but at this point, I'd settle for Americans learning the rudiments of English before they graduate college.

The truth of the matter is that I have a mental block when it comes to spelling, there are times I can spell very well, but other times, I get a complete block and I forget how to spell words like was or when and it can be a pain to forget the easy ones.
I have also forgotten how to spell names, including my own, and that can be a real pain.

I also must write around words that I can not spell and that makes for some difficulty, as even here a word eludes me.
When I can not spell a word (such as how), I can not look the word up to find the spelling as the word becomes impossible to me, I can not even get the first letter of it, and trying to pronounce it is just as difficult.

It all seems to be linked to hearing and speach, I do not hear the beat of music, I do not hear words like other people and I am often amazed to find out that a word I thought I had been hearing one way for years is often being said another way, such as ranch or the word jet. I must stop and think very carefully before saying either of these as my mind just does not like those two and it clicks off. Jury and jewels are right up there as well, so maybe my english is not so good, and my spelling is worse, but I am cute so what does it matter?

Oh I also do not sing as I have been told many times that my singing sucks, but that is another story.......

I just wanted to pick on Wyldflower and that I did, and for stealing someone birthday thread, well, Wyldflower started it, she typed in red...........

Nathen... You pick on me because I'm so very pickable, aren't I ... LOL

I wasn't fully aware of any difficulties you have, so if my picking on you was out of line, I do apologize... but I won't stop picking when it's called for!

Wyldflower, you were not out of line at all.

I just wanted to say that my spelling is a result of my mental blocks not poor learning skills or lack of concern for clear posting.

I would much rather be picking on one another then not, it is a form of play, hell even Larry knows that I don't really think he is weird, I know lots of men who play hockey in pink tutu's.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nathen:

I would much rather be picking on one another then not, it is a form of play, hell even Larry knows that I don't really think he is weird, I know lots of men who play hockey in pink tutu's.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Now the question is, who's weirder? The one man who plays hockey in a pink tutu, or the man who knows LOTS of men who play hockey in pink tutus. Hmmmmm..... <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/confused.gif" width=15 height=22>

Nathen, my grip is not with makers of beautiful walking sticks who may get stuck on words occasionally, it's with schools conferring degrees on people who then work in publishing and communications jobs but can't tell the difference between a verb and a man in a pink tutu. Pamram will remember the time a writer submitted copy about a "coiffure-driven limousine." It cracked us up that 'coiffure' was spelled correctly. Pam suggested the heading should be "Bee-Hive Drive." If I had kept that writer's manuscripts, I could publish the gems from them and retire on the income. I don't work with her now, but I know she's in charge of publishing a series of books for elementary schools.<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/axe.gif" width=39 height=20>

Sometimes words escape me, or look wrong to me when they aren't. Google is a good way to get around the former; much better than a dictionary or thesaurus. Just type in a related word you CAN think of, and somewhere in the first page of search results will be the word or phrasing you need, or it may even give you one of those "Did you mean..." thingys with the correct spelling. Then at least you have enough information to look it up.

Nathen, it could be that you just think faster than you talk, or type. My husband does that all the time--you really have to know how he thinks to be able to read what he writes LOL! What I would like is a computer that can think like I type and make up for all my typos before they hit the screen <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif" width=15 height=15>

LOL Ceashel--I know what you mean about people who refuse to even try to use proper grammar. My pet peeves are their, there and they're--my students used to mix them up all the time.

hell Nathen,,I didn,t think you made a mistake or had a block..I thought "adult grips" were over sized "love handles".<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/rolleyes.gif" width=15 height=15>

This just shows you how little Nate knows about me and hockey! My hockey tutu happens to be blue!!!! Pink is a girls color!

But Larry if you wear the blue one to play hockey then when do you wear the pink one?

<center><FONT COLOR="#000080">--- Edited 1 times, lastly by Nathen on Jan 09, 2003 ---</FONT></center>

What would happen if Irag asked the UN to step in and prevent a superpower from attacking it and taking it's oil?

What would Bush do if the UN said it would not allow the US to attack?

What would happen if Bush attacked anyway?

What would happen if people started e-mailing the UN asking for action?

silly questions but I just had to ask?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nathen:

What would happen if people started e-mailing the UN asking for action?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just sent this:
To:
Ambassador M. Jean-Marc de LA Sabliere
Security Council Representative from France
Ambassador Mr. Sergey Lavrov
Security Council Representative from Russia
Ambassador Wang Yingfan
Security Council Representative from China
Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock
Security Council Representative from United Kingdom
Ambassador Mr. Stefan Tafrov
Security Council Representative from Bulgaria
Ambassador Martin Belinga Eboutou
Security Council Representative from Cameroon
Ambassador M. François Lonseny Fall
Security Council Representative from Guinea
Embajador Adolfo Aguilar ZÃ-nser
Security Council Representative from Mexico
Ambassador Dr. Mikhaâ?Til Wahbi
Security Council Representative from Syria
Ambassador Dr. Ismael Gaspar Martins
Security Council Representative from Angola
Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdés
Security Council Representative from Chile
Ambassador Dr. Gunter Pleuger
Security Council Representative from Germany
Ambassador Inocencio F. Arias
Security Council Representative from Spain
Ambassador Munir Akram
Security Council Representative from Pakistan
cc:
United States President George W. Bush
United States Vice President Richard B. Cheney

As a citizen of the United States, I wish to make it known that I oppose the aggressive policies being promulgated by President George W. Bush and his cabinet. The United States, in setting a policy of pre-emptive strike, without sufficient compelling evidence presented to the United Nations, is on the verge of becoming a "rogue nation" itself.

I acknowledge the wisdom of inspections for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I would encourage the continuation of such inspections until such time that the United Nations has determined that they are not necessary, either due to finding compliance or due to a decision on the part of the United Nations that other action would be required. War should be a last resort, only to be considered after exhaustive attempts at resolution via negotiation and diplomacy through the international forum provided by the United Nations.

I support the United Nations in its efforts to determine the proper policy toward Iraq and its dictator, Saddam Hussein. This is a matter of international import, and should be addressed through the auspices of the United Nations.

Thank you for hearing me.

Sincerely,

Carolyn Madsen

-------

I received form letter acknowledgements from the president and vice president... autoresponse stuff...

here are the email addresses, you can copy and paste them:
'france-presse@un.int'; 'rusun@un.int'; 'chinamission_un@fmprc.gov.cn'; 'uk@un.int'; 'bulgaria@un.int'; 'info@cameroonmission.org'; 'guinea@un.int'; 'mexico@un.int'; 'syria@un.int'; 'ang-un@angolamissionun.org'; 'chile@un.int'; 'contact@germany-un.org'; 'spain@spainun.org'; 'pakistan@un.int'
and
'president@whitehouse.gov'; 'vice.president@whitehouse.gov'