Comments on: Snobbery!

By: john marzan

john marzan — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 08:16:38 +0000

I’m not surprised many Europeans are becoming more proficient in English, because here in Asia, more and more Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans are becoming bilingual too.

And English is their preferred second language.

The Chinese, the Japanese and Filipinos want to learn English because A) it is the language of the world (not French, not Spanish), the language of business, and B) because they want to do business with Americans, the global and economic superpower.

And if I were barack, i would not pander to the mexican vote by telling them that Americans should learn spanish. Instead, I would tell the immigrants that being proficient in English is the key to success and will open doors for the newcomers.

As for the Americans, I don’t think their population is less bilingual than the brits and aussies.

of course, learning a new language is a good thing! spanish is nice (to communicate with the maids and laborers), but mandarin is better, so that americans will be able to talk to their new Chinese bosses in the future.

By: Gil

Gil — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:26:15 +0000

That makes sense.

Perhaps you should read more of the criticisms of McCain to see that there’s plenty beyond-the-pale stuff being coming from that side, as well.

And, it’s hard to avoid the election being “about” Obama, since he doesn’t have a political history that tells us much. People seem to be asked to have faith in his personality.

In any case, I think it’s good to be aware of possible biases, and to avoid unjustified partisan support.

By: Julian Sanchez

Julian Sanchez — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:46:25 +0000

Gil-
Well, maybe. I guess it’s the critiques of Obama that are jumping out at me as silly and unfair beyond the ordinary parameters of partisan hyperbole, so I end up talking about those. I think in part that’s because most people regard this election as being more centrally “about” Obama.

By: Xanthippas

Xanthippas — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:55:31 +0000

Someone please explain to me how being embarrassed about the fact that so few Americans can speak a second language is “elitist.” Check this out: while watching coverage of the Euro 2008 (yes I know, watching European soccer makes ME an elitist so take what I say with a grain of salt) I was struck by how many of the players were doing their press conferences in English. Note: England was NOT in the tournament. So, European ATHLETES can speak languages foreign to their own, where as our most highly educated citizens can speak nothing but English. What’s NOT embarrassing about that?

By: Scott Wood

Scott Wood — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:05:17 +0000

I would feel more comfortable if Obama showed some recognition that learning English as a second language is much more valuable to a Frenchman or a German than learning French or German would be for me.

As it is, I suspect that he considers my speaking only English to be a character flaw rather than a reasonable trade off for the other things I spent my time learning.

By: southpaw

southpaw — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:34:10 +0000

The Weekly Standard and the National Review need to get together on this. As John McCormack would have it, this proposal reveals that Obama is a snob because he holds his countrymen in low regard. As John Derbyshire sees it, this proposal reveals that Obama is a fantasist because his countrymen are way too fucking stupid to ever learn another language. Seems a bit inconsistent.

By: Gil

Gil — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:25:45 +0000

To be fair, lately, you do seem to be reaching for the least charitable interpretation of criticisms of Obama, but not of Obama himself.

It’s not a “mischaracterization”, but it’s also often no better than what you mock.

Don’t get me wrong. I like mocking. But, when it looks like part of a pro-Obama campaign, I like it less.

By: Ashish

Ashish — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:57:16 +0000

How would it make him a hypocrite if he were a monoglot?

By: James

James — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:03:34 +0000

I don’t think his bahasa Indonesia is really up to a level beyond basic either…

By: Gil

Gil — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:00:18 +0000

Yes, this criticism is stupid, but Obama’s education agenda isn’t really worthy of your defense.

Let me know when he favors school choice, or non-union teachers, or less federal spending and meddling.