http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100428/ts_ynews/ynews_ts1831

Amid a national debate over Arizona's tough new immigration law, Republican Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James (and son of previous Gov. Fob James) vows in a new campaign ad that if he's elected, he'll give the state driver's license exam only in English, as a cost-saving measure.

"This is Alabama; we speak English," he says in the ad. "If you want to live here, learn it."

Full Article on Link Above


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is WRONG on so many levels, IMO.

sounds harsh but reasonable. If I want to visit France its one thing, If I want to live in France I should probably learn French or at least not expect France to spend their money to accomodate my choice not to learn it...

Ojala! Me gustalo!

But France has an offical language.

The United States does not.

What about individuals who can read and speak English, but because it isn't their first language a driving license test may have technical terms unfamilar to them or if it's a timed tested, are we going to penalize people for needing more time to take a test due to language fluency issues!

Not reasonable! Completely unacceptable to require a state document to be in English only, when there is no offical language.

Not to mention, other countries who do have official languages have translated documents for those who are not fluent in the official language!

Finally, something you and I agree on!

I also started a thread on another site about this very subject! I may bring it here as well. Have a great day!

English is the universal language of the United State and there is no reason that the test should be in other languages..All of the stop signs, mile markers, etc are in English and if you can't understand what is on the test you should not have a driver's license

Well perhaps we need an official language if thsts the issue. Otherwise, we have a PREDOMINATE language.

We have immigrants here not only from latin america but from Asia,, should we expend the extra money to print official documents in ALL Three languages, or would it be more reasonable to expect Asians and latinos alike to learn english if they are planning on living in America. If they dont speak it,, but read it,,that is still knowing the language(as far as Im concerned anyhow).

We do in fact expect people to know certain information to become citizens here, why should the english language not be a part of that information?

Spoken from someone that is primarily an English speaker! Are you fluent in any other language? If so, how did you become fluent? Through an educational system? Through exposure? Through paying for classes?

Either way, it's an elitist ideology to expect everyone to be fluent in English in the United States. This ideology would exclude a lot of well deserving and productive people, who otherwise never had the resources to learn english.

I have taught ESL for 6 years and I currently am fluent in multiple languages. It can be done. By the way, the ESL classes I taught were free.

But! ESL is not fluency!

Secondly, those individuals did not come to the US speaking english or being fluent in English.

Taking an English as a Second Language course (especially a free one) does not automatically mean an individual will be fluent.

And how long did it take you to learn another language? I bet it didn't happen over night.... let alone fluency within 6 months!

I am not fluent. If I were to travel to France to live, I would take french lessons first to live amongst the french. It doesnt cost much more when compared to the other costs of setting up life in another country.

So yes, choosing to educate oneself in the language required to survive in an environment is logical and reasonable.

So, what if surviving in another country meant you had to be able to drive.... no public transportation to work... too far to walk to the grocery store.... or completely depend on other to transport you.

Not to mention, with an international driver's license or even without in some countries, you can drive in a foreign country without knowing any of the language!

And I am not saying it isn't important to learn the dominant language, however, you are going to exclude individuals before they become fluent in it! That is discrimination!

And if you read the article, it states that it won't cost more to have tests in other language... the state would actually lose revenue if tests were only given in English.

The operative words for me are 'another country'. I would suggest noone leaves their HOME to move to another city, state, or country without being prepared FIRST. Stay where you are, learn what you will need, and prepare yourself. ITs never wise to just pick up and go and then be STUCK once you arrive without what you need to survive.

I find it completely acceptable.

What about refugees that didn't have a choice?

What about spouses and older children that rely on support from their partner or parent and are relocated?

What about individuals seeking a better life?

Also, I know a lot of international student that pass the TOEL, but aren't truly fluent in English.

After they prove their immigrant status, they should be allowed to hire a translator. Or, have the test available at a cost so, taxpayers don't have to absorb the cost.

Your post is a great argument to have English implemented as our primary language.

I have stated before, Other languages aside from English, have no business in Government. Local, State or Federal.

im kinda baffled..English IS the common Known language of the usa.

now i see people insisting theres no common language?
huh?

im not sure where they are coming from,but if you want to live in the usa,you should Know Read and Speak english.

want to speak in another language,great! cool!
have at it.

just dont expect the usa to bend over backwards because you cannot or will not learn english.
thats lucridious.

and if you just came here,and dont know how,then im Quite sure you would Find another countryman to help teach you.

in fact,one of the chatrooms i go to,i see lots of people from all over the world,learning to speak english,because they want to come here to the usa..where the Common language is...drum roll please..English!!

just my opinion.

ps,i still wish this site had a chatroom..even just one room,would be sufficient.

OK...answer me this:

Suppose You or a family member, or friend was in a serious auto accident caused by the driver of the other vehicle!

OK...and the one that you loved was killed, or maimed for life!

Now...suppose...the other driver did not understand or could not read the sign posted to prevent the possibility of the accident.

Do you still think they should have been licensed to drive, even though they didn't know the language?

We all need to be on the same page with the language, otherwise...the other driver becomes a liability to you, your, and my safety on the highways.

JMO - If I Still Have One!