Coca-Cola touched Controversy over airing a new Super Bowl Ad?

[Harbringe]

And by the way, English is slowly losing it's importance in the world market. As the far east continues to eclipse western society, I believe it won't take long for the Chinese language to gain in importance. I can think of a few European countries, such as Germany, who are beginning to dominate the business scene as well.

 

Sorry your completely wrong about this , English is here to stay , in education systems around the world there are only a couple dozen or so very minor nations who don't require english to be taught as a second language including nations like Germany and China . In fields like aviation its been made madantory that personnel who's job requires communication skills speak fluent english and not just that but fields like finance , tourism , telecommunications , virtually all of the scientific filelds and on and on have made it madatory that you speak and write fluent english . To get a good idea of how far its gone , Iranian fighter pilots are now being required to be able to speak fluent english and this is being done on the off chance that in situations of rising tensions in that region , there wont be a miscommunication that triggers a conflict and maybe on a pilot to pilot level a situation can be diffused before it happens and why english cause everyone else who would possibly be in the air in a situation like that can already speak english.

 

As for the commercial it was one of the most beautiful pro America commercials I have ever seen and its a shame that politicians like Allen West or TV pundits like Glen Beck or Bill Oreilly would pander to the basest fears of their audience just to score points. Got nothing to do with the demise of the english language , nothing to do with immigration but with scumbags who would pander crap to their base . Shameful .

 

 

Har: I changed the color of your text. Though not a written rule, we would rather you not use this color as it is widely know as "moderation yellow" and it would be better not to have any confusion. Please feel free to pick another color than the one I have chosen. Thank you.~Lisnpuppy

Edited February 9, 2014 by Lisnpuppy

[Vagrant0]

 

its a shame that politicians like Allen West or TV pundits like Glen Beck or Bill Oreilly would pander to the basest fears of their audience just to score points.

Pandering to the basest fears is all anyone does any more, and for good reason. Looking back over the last 14 years, it is actually just about the only strategy that has had any meaningful results. The shame is not that they are using this strategy, the shame is that it still works.

[colourwheel]

 

It's not realistic to expect a child to learn three or four different languages in school while still keeping up with his other education.

 

With this type of attitude, makes one wonder why internationally America is falling behind in science and math. You can look at some places in Asia where as children are expected to learn English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and understand the Hangul alphabet as well as kanji, all before they are even out of primary school.

 

There have been studies done where children learn their native language better when taught multi-languages at the same time. Students who have a better understanding of their native language will excel in other areas of education such as math, science, social studies, and history.

 

If we are not willing to open our minds to how other countries are teaching their children across the world and take too much pride in being a country where as it being know to natively use the "Universal language of the world", our country will probably just keep falling behind farther as the rest of the world excels.

 

This is what I meant when saying in order for America to keep up with the rest of the world our nation should encourage the use of multi-languages and probably throw aside this paradigm of English being the Universal language of the world.

Edited February 9, 2014 by colourwheel

[Vagrant0]

 

This is what I meant when saying in order for America to keep up with the rest of the world our nation should encourage the use of multi-languages and probably throw aside this paradigm of English being the Universal language of the world.

 

While I would agree that a secondary language should certainly be made more important in America... If only because it tends to make people much more aware of English and how it functions as a language... The fact of the matter is that a Lingua Franca is more or less necessary as we go towards an ever more connected world. If not English, it would probably be Russian or Mandarin... And those are the only choices based on geo-political influence. It has nothing to do with Right Wing, Left Wing, or any of that crap and everything to do with businesses who want to function globally.

 

What do I mean by function globally? Well, consider what challenges are related to a company who has main offices in several different countries, who has to deal with different languages. This means that any time they want to enact any major company policy, or even check with other branches, they need to hire an interpreter to translate everything between languages. While this may be all well and good, the problem comes in with the way that some concepts or ideas do not always translate well once you start including more than a few languages into the mix (and even worse when you, as is more often the case, use google to translate official statements or directions). A good deal of this is nullified by just having a single common language which is reasonably fluent among all upper management, which can then be individually translated for the local language and the workforce.

 

 

But, this is all beside the point here. When talking about a Lingua Franca or the international business end of things, we are really just talking about people who have access to all those things, like proper schools, access to the internet, or other rare privileges that puts them in contact with an individual who has even rudimentary use of English. For the other roughly 3/4 of humanity, language really isn't a choice. They learn the language that is spoken by their family, the language that is spoken by their community, and then pick up whatever foreign words or phrases that has a more direct impact on their life.

 

When you are talking about immigration, you're actually talking about two very different situations. In one situation you have an educated worker who has been contracted with a company to bring their skills to an outside branch or to facilitate a cultural group that is already established, and who will probably end up learning the local language in bits and pieces just to function better outside their community. In the other situation you have a worker who probably didn't get any formal education, crossed the border in search of work while staying with family, who has neither time nor interest in learning the local language, ultimately requiring the native government or population to make concessions in order to have some level of communication. Trying to allow for the first case without making the second case too common is one of the reasons why immigration has always been a difficult issue to address, in any country. The only ones who have had any real luck on this end are those ones who have either entirely closed off their borders (which they can since their borders are small enough to guard) or could just openly practice racism. Which means that this will likely continue to be a problem in America for a very long time to come.

 

 

The commercial really isn't about immigration or anything like that though, it's more about how people from any nationality, walk of life, or identification should be able to come together and stand in common as Americans. And that is the only reason why these people are upset... Because they don't want to stand next to someone who is different than they are.

[Xplode441]

Actually, in the time of the High Renaissance, students in the universities had to learn Latin on top of whatever language they already spoke and while learning the liberal arts all at the same time. If it's not realistic to juggle multiple subjects it's probably because the educational fabric of American society has been damaged by social media and technology that continues to isolate us.

 

And by the way, English is slowly losing it's importance in the world market. As the far east continues to eclipse western society, I believe it won't take long for the Chinese language to gain in importance. I can think of a few European countries, such as Germany, who are beginning to dominate the business scene as well.

 

And University education is not mandatory. Latin was popular then because many texts were not translated. If you were going to make kids learn a second language, it would be in primary school. That's simply an unrealistic expectation.

 

The second part is something you hear quite often, but truthfully, China is not going to be the far reaching global economy if they keep the track they're going. Most of the stuff they mass manufacture is of shoddy and unoriginal design. Except weapons surprisingly, they make some good firearms. And even German most German CEOs speak English.

 

 

With this type of attitude, makes one wonder why internationally America is falling behind in science and math. You can look at some places in Asia where as children are expected to learn English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and understand the Hangul alphabet as well as kanji, all before they are even out of primary school.

 

There have been studies done where children learn their native language better when taught multi-languages at the same time. Students who have a better understanding of their native language will excel in other areas of education such as math, science, social studies, and history.

 

If we are not willing to open our minds to how other countries are teaching their children across the world and take too much pride in being a country where as it being know to natively use the "Universal language of the world", our country will probably just keep falling behind farther as the rest of the world excels.

 

This is what I meant when saying in order for America to keep up with the rest of the world our nation should encourage the use of multi-languages and probably throw aside this paradigm of English being the Universal language of the world.

 

Science and Math have nothing to do with learning another language, and if anything making kids learn another language just pushes math and science further down the curriculum. They pack in as much learning as they can in school for kids, throwing more in there isn't helping the kids.

And you can also look at places like China where cheating is rampant. http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/06/riot-after-chinese-teachers-try-to-stop-gaokao-cheating/

Besides, a lot of the people I've spoken to from an Asian country speaks at the most improper and broken English.

 

I'd also like a citation for that second part.

 

My mother tried to teach me French along with my schoolwork, and I just couldn't keep up with everything. I'm not even the average schoolkid either, I was in the top 10% for IQ, but I just couldn't juggle all of that as a child.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Xplode441

[Harbringe]

 

 

Har: I changed the color of your text. Though not a written rule, we would rather you not use this color as it is widely know as "moderation yellow" and it would be better not to have any confusion. Please feel free to pick another color than the one I have chosen. Thank you.~Lisnpuppy

 

 

Ah see did not know

[Keanumoreira]

 

And by the way, English is slowly losing it's importance in the world market. As the far east continues to eclipse western society, I believe it won't take long for the Chinese language to gain in importance. I can think of a few European countries, such as Germany, who are beginning to dominate the business scene as well.

 

Sorry your completely wrong about this , English is here to stay , in education systems around the world there are only a couple dozen or so very minor nations who don't require english to be taught as a second language including nations like Germany and China . In fields like aviation its been made madantory that personnel who's job requires communication skills speak fluent english and not just that but fields like finance , tourism , telecommunications , virtually all of the scientific filelds and on and on have made it madatory that you speak and write fluent english . To get a good idea of how far its gone , Iranian fighter pilots are now being required to be able to speak fluent english and this is being done on the off chance that in situations of rising tensions in that region , there wont be a miscommunication that triggers a conflict and maybe on a pilot to pilot level a situation can be diffused before it happens and why english cause everyone else who would possibly be in the air in a situation like that can already speak english.

 

Maybe in the near future, but what about fifty or a hundred years from now? Of course English will still be around (assuming nothing happens), but I doubt it will be the universal language as far as the human race is concerned. We are not as strong as we used to be since the days of the second world war. Give it another couple of decades and I guarantee you we'll be replaced. Considering that all the problems we have now resemble those of the Roman's during the time they had an empire, if we don't shape up now, then we don't have much time left. We've already moved past our golden age and into the more difficult times of running a world power. It happens time and time again in world history. We'll still be important as far as technology and world politics go, but we've had our time in the sun. Now it's someone else's turn.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Keanumoreira

[colourwheel]

 

 

 

It's not realistic to expect a child to learn three or four different languages in school while still keeping up with his other education.

 

With this type of attitude, makes one wonder why internationally America is falling behind in science and math. You can look at some places in Asia where as children are expected to learn English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and understand the Hangul alphabet as well as kanji, all before they are even out of primary school.

 

There have been studies done where children learn their native language better when taught multi-languages at the same time. Students who have a better understanding of their native language will excel in other areas of education such as math, science, social studies, and history.

 

If we are not willing to open our minds to how other countries are teaching their children across the world and take too much pride in being a country where as it being know to natively use the "Universal language of the world", our country will probably just keep falling behind farther as the rest of the world excels.

 

This is what I meant when saying in order for America to keep up with the rest of the world our nation should encourage the use of multi-languages and probably throw aside this paradigm of English being the Universal language of the world.

 

 

Science and Math have nothing to do with learning another language, and if anything making kids learn another language just pushes math and science further down the curriculum. They pack in as much learning as they can in school for kids, throwing more in there isn't helping the kids.

 

http://www.multilingualchildren.org/getting_started/myths.html

 

You seem to be misunderstanding why learning another language is helpful when being taught other subjects. If a child has a better understanding of their native language, they tend to be more receptive to what is being taught when a lecture is being given. Also Reading text in books a child will be able to absorb information more effectively if they have a clearer understanding to what they are actually reading. Teaching another language is actually being used as a tool for the sole purpose of understanding their own native language better.

 

Which is why a student who has a better understanding of their native language will excel in other areas of education such as math, science, social studies, and history. When children are taught multi-languages at a young age they tend to have a better understanding of their native language more than a child who is only taught one language. Sadly the best time to start teaching a child more than one language is way before they even attend primary school.

Edited February 9, 2014 by colourwheel

[HeyYou]

 

 

 

 

It's not realistic to expect a child to learn three or four different languages in school while still keeping up with his other education.

 

With this type of attitude, makes one wonder why internationally America is falling behind in science and math. You can look at some places in Asia where as children are expected to learn English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and understand the Hangul alphabet as well as kanji, all before they are even out of primary school.

 

There have been studies done where children learn their native language better when taught multi-languages at the same time. Students who have a better understanding of their native language will excel in other areas of education such as math, science, social studies, and history.

 

If we are not willing to open our minds to how other countries are teaching their children across the world and take too much pride in being a country where as it being know to natively use the "Universal language of the world", our country will probably just keep falling behind farther as the rest of the world excels.

 

This is what I meant when saying in order for America to keep up with the rest of the world our nation should encourage the use of multi-languages and probably throw aside this paradigm of English being the Universal language of the world.

 

 

Science and Math have nothing to do with learning another language, and if anything making kids learn another language just pushes math and science further down the curriculum. They pack in as much learning as they can in school for kids, throwing more in there isn't helping the kids.

 

http://www.multilingualchildren.org/getting_started/myths.html

 

You seem to be misunderstanding why learning another language is helpful when being taught other subjects. If a child has a better understanding of their native language, they tend to be more receptive to what is being taught when a lecture is being given. Also Reading text in books a child will be able to absorb information more effectively if they have a clearer understanding to what they are actually reading. Teaching another language is actually being used as a tool for the sole purpose of understanding their own native language better.

 

Which is why a student who has a better understanding of their native language will excel in other areas of education such as math, science, social studies, and history. When children are taught multi-languages at a young age they tend to have a better understanding of their native language more than a child who is only taught one language. Sadly the best time to start teaching a child more than one language is way before they even attend primary school.

 

I can find research on this going as far back as 1962. Makes you seriously wonder WHY this hasn't been implemented.

[Lisnpuppy]

At the time of the American Revolution...English was not the language of culture or business and would not be for some time to come. There was however a "universal" language spoken in just about every court of every country. In fact, there was a famous saying at the time:

 

When Paris Sneezes, Europe catches cold.

 

Because all things including and most importantly, the French language permeated the world.

 

Languages come and go and their importance with them. Why one succeeds is often as much luck as anything else. A wonderful book on languages and how they develop (though I don't agree with everything the author says) is called The Power of Babel http://www.amazon.com/The-Power-Babel-Natural-Language/dp/006052085X. It is a great book but not for the faint of heart. It is linguistically heavy and occasionally tedious but certainly a very interesting view.

 

I think though, one can speak a language that is not their native tongue to use as the "universal" and still retain their own. Still retain the culture and history of their own people. America is a melting pot...it implies that all these good and wonderful things are ADDED into it. It is not the Great American Smelter where things are all separated into their own parts. At no time does this melting pot imply that one, who is a carrot...suddenly not be a carrot. Only that a carrot can come together with all these other things to make something better than before. The sum being more than the total of its parts. It can be this and that. Not this OR that.

 

Regardless of the reason for the commercial...this is what it meant. This is what it was trying to get across...maybe to make tons of American dollars...but that was the meaning and the heartstrings pulled and the connections it wished to make.

 

 

And Colour is right. Language is best learned along side and integrated in other subjects and typically is offered in the U.S. far too late. The brains ability to process and learn language with any easy is typically long past once foreign language is offered in school in the U.S. (which is about 6th grade or above.) I took more Spanish than I care to count including four semesters in college. I can not speak Spanish well but I did learn more about grammar, English grammar than I ever did in English class.

 

Americans are fortunate that we are a country of individual states, that are like little countries but we all speak the same language. Other Nations learn multiple tongues out of necessity and proximity and think nothing of it. Were that Americans so malleable to the thought.

 

edit: HeyYou posted as I did. I think the reason it has not is 1) Americans low opinion of education and the educated. 2) The mindset that English is the be all and end all and since it DID become the language of business-why should we be bothered to learn another thing? 3) The expense of hiring language teachers and the school system/tax payers seeing an additional language as a luxury not a necessity.