[bootlegga]

mentalfloss mentalfloss:

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

Plenty of Chinese do keep it within their 'community'. It's more the rule than the exception. Just drive to the Chinese only malls in Mississauga with no English signs in sight. It's a reality.

English is important. Communication is important. If there is anything worth conformity I would agree to its a national language. But we're talking about a fairly innocuous piece of fabric here. Society needs to accept it and move on.

That this and similar incidences are even being taken to the level of judicial dispute is a shame we will have to live with for a long time.

Not only that, but given that some Chinese restaurants have largely Chinese crowds, doesn't it make sense to have employees capable of dealing with customers?

As a foreigner who lived overseas, there were plenty of foreigners who kept to themselves (again, mostly due to communication issues), so I just don't see this as a big deal.

I don't know about Ontario, but here in Edmonton, it's not just Chinese who keep to themselves, the Polish and the Ukrainians do it too. There are Polish/Ukrainian only doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc., you name it. It's not just Asian immigrants who don't want to (or cannot) speak English...

[EyeBrock]

See Boots, I have this theory.

Canada is a very shiny place and lots of people want to come here.

Obviously we can only take in the 280,000 a year or so plus the 30,000 refugees and the 20,000 or so family class grannies and granddads that come and enjoy our healthcare system.

Us being so shiny, we could actually just take people we want.

I think being able to speak English or French to a level that means you can actually get a job is important.

Letting people in these days with crappy language skills doesn't make sense. People all over the globe can learn English or French.

We should stop letting people in that can't speak our languages.


We can be choosy but we choose not to be.

[ASLplease]

in for a penny in for a pound

if we take engineers and doctors, we have to take their families too

[EyeBrock]

ASLplease ASLplease:

in for a penny in for a pound

if we take engineers and doctors, we have to take their families too

But they should be able to speak English or French and actually get a job they are qualified for.

Otherwise we will just get 'Doctors' driving cabs.

[BartSimpson]

mentalfloss mentalfloss:

I'm not anti-American at all, nor do I have an agenda against Americans.

Uh-huh. All pro-American folks have...

mentalfloss mentalfloss:

They should really ease up instead of continuing the 'All American' propaganda.

...that kind of thing in their lexicon. Sorry bud, I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night so you'll have to understand that my bullsh*t detector is pretty goood anymore.

[bootlegga]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

See Boots, I have this theory.

Canada is a very shiny place and lots of people want to come here.

Obviously we can only take in the 280,000 a year or so plus the 30,000 refugees and the 20,000 or so family class grannies and granddads that come and enjoy our healthcare system.

Us being so shiny, we could actually just take people we want.

I think being able to speak English or French to a level that means you can actually get a job is important.

Letting people in these days with crappy language skills doesn't make sense. People all over the globe can learn English or French.

We should stop letting people in that can't speak our languages.


We can be choosy but we choose not to be.

I agree that immigrants should be able to speak English, but who are you (or we as Canadians) to say that immigrants (no matter where they're from) shouldn't be allowed to go and order a meal in the language that they speak natively (whether they immigrated 15 years or 15 days ago)?

I may not like 'ethnic enclaves' much, but I fully understand why they exist and as I said, when I lived overseas I preferred going to places that could speak English (or had English menus). It just makes life easier, and for someone who is not a native English speaker (I'll give you Brits with your wonky accents a grudging pass ), sometimes it's little things like that that make a huge difference in one's day.

Tell me it isn't frustrating not being able to communicate with people when travelling (whether or not you have some language skills or a handbook of phrases). You know it is. That's exactly what immigrants go through on a daily basis. You, by nature of where you emigrated from, never had to deal with this (at least not to the extent that most immigrants do).

After living overseas, I gained profound admiration for those who immigrate to this country with weak/non-existent language skills. To move overseas, to a strange culture and climate, and to try and make a life in a place where you maybe have the language ability of a elementary student is incredibly brave, if you ask me.

[EyeBrock]

I have no issue with immigrants speaking their own language, but we don't make it such an issue when we let people in. We should.

In my workplace, we have had several communication problems with new hires who can pass the written tests and scrape through the interviews but, when the shit hits the fan, their lack of English has been at the very least a hindrance and at the worst has put their colleagues at risk.

Really, new immigrants should have excellent language skills. We can demand that these days.

Immigrants should be what we demand of them if we supposedly need them for growth.

We make the rules, or we should.

We can't grow if nobody understands them.

[ShepherdsDog]

If they can't communicate effectively in times of stress(shootings, hostage situations, which doughnut shops are putting out a fresh batch) they shouldn't have been hired. This is crucial for the police.

[Gunnair]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

If they can't communicate effectively in times of stress(shootings, hostage situations, which doughnut shops are putting out a fresh batch) they shouldn't have been hired. This is crucial for the police.

Lot of backup here....

[EyeBrock]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

If they can't communicate effectively in times of stress(shootings, hostage situations, which doughnut shops are putting out a fresh batch) they shouldn't have been hired. This is crucial for the police.

It's the same across the board, EMS and Fire are having the same issues. It's PC hiring gone mad.

[kenmore]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

I have no issue with immigrants speaking their own language, but we don't make it such an issue when we let people in. We should.

In my workplace, we have had several communication problems with new hires who can pass the written tests and scrape through the interviews but, when the shit hits the fan, their lack of English has been at the very least a hindrance and at the worst has put their colleagues at risk.

Really, new immigrants should have excellent language skills. We can demand that these days.

Immigrants should be what we demand of them if we supposedly need them for growth.

We make the rules, or we should.

We can't grow if nobody understands them.

I totally agree.. language is an issue for sure. Our nurses spend alot of their time correcting errors made by immigrant doctors. These include errors in medication orders and treatment errors. We now just go ahead and either write them for them or tell them to correct them before we process them. The other issue is them not understanding jargon and terms used ever day by locals

[bootlegga]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

I have no issue with immigrants speaking their own language, but we don't make it such an issue when we let people in. We should.

In my workplace, we have had several communication problems with new hires who can pass the written tests and scrape through the interviews but, when the shit hits the fan, their lack of English has been at the very least a hindrance and at the worst has put their colleagues at risk.

Really, new immigrants should have excellent language skills. We can demand that these days.

Immigrants should be what we demand of them if we supposedly need them for growth.

We make the rules, or we should.

We can't grow if nobody understands them.

Sure we do.

Under the points system (for typical immigrants), language accounts for up to 24% of the score they need to get in (16% for English, another 8% if they also know French). Other major factors include education (25%) and work experience (21%). Things like age, having a job and/or relative here count much less (around 10% each).

[DerbyX]

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

That's Disney.

Disney 'aint a country or a political party. It's a media company that's been around 70 years.

If 'All-American' is a problem to you, don't go there. Unlike Morroco we have choices in Canada.

That's right. They are a corporate entity and so long as their policies don't run afoul of discrimination laws they are entitled to promote an image.

Of course the same then goes for any company that wants to discontinue piggy banks or replace merry christmas with happy holidays. They are making a corporate decision in order to cater to their customers. If people have a problem with that then they can vote with their wallet and do business elsewhere.

[EyeBrock]

bootlegga bootlegga:

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

I have no issue with immigrants speaking their own language, but we don't make it such an issue when we let people in. We should.

In my workplace, we have had several communication problems with new hires who can pass the written tests and scrape through the interviews but, when the shit hits the fan, their lack of English has been at the very least a hindrance and at the worst has put their colleagues at risk.

Really, new immigrants should have excellent language skills. We can demand that these days.

Immigrants should be what we demand of them if we supposedly need them for growth.

We make the rules, or we should.

We can't grow if nobody understands them.

Sure we do.

Under the points system (for typical immigrants), language accounts for up to 24% of the score they need to get in (16% for English, another 8% if they also know French). Other major factors include education (25%) and work experience (21%). Things like age, having a job and/or relative here count much less (around 10% each).

Yea, well the test 'aint working.

And 16% for English?

Nice, try working with somebody who has scored the 16% in English.

Silly that it rates such a low mark when in reality, language and communication skills are the most important skill sets to have.

[andyt]

bootlegga bootlegga:

EyeBrock EyeBrock:

I have no issue with immigrants speaking their own language, but we don't make it such an issue when we let people in. We should.

In my workplace, we have had several communication problems with new hires who can pass the written tests and scrape through the interviews but, when the shit hits the fan, their lack of English has been at the very least a hindrance and at the worst has put their colleagues at risk.

Really, new immigrants should have excellent language skills. We can demand that these days.

Immigrants should be what we demand of them if we supposedly need them for growth.

We make the rules, or we should.

We can't grow if nobody understands them.

Sure we do.

Under the points system (for typical immigrants), language accounts for up to 24% of the score they need to get in (16% for English, another 8% if they also know French). Other major factors include education (25%) and work experience (21%). Things like age, having a job and/or relative here count much less (around 10% each).

This statistic is bandied about, and I guess if you live in whiteyville, like boots it's easy to believe. Come to Vancouver and see how many people there are who have poor or no English.