<div>Just to complicate things, I met a woman once (here in the US) who came from a German</div>
<div>Mennonite background. She told me that one of her elderly female relatives was sure that</div>
<div>God spoke German, because in Genesis, you can clearly read that God spoke to Adam as follows: </div>
<div> </div>
<div>"Adam, was machst du?"<br></div>
<div>Hal S. <br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 1:19 AM, Don Osborn <<a href="mailto:dzo@bisharat.net">dzo@bisharat.net</a>> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">A documented exchange during a demonstration in Denver re whether public<br>libraries should have books in Spanish gives a rawer and perhaps more<br>
revealing insight into attitudes behind English-only:<br><br>"You need to speak English," Weatherford told Casillas.<br><br>"I am speaking English, but I can speak Spanish too," Casillas replied.<br><br>
"You need to speak (English) all the time," Weatherford said.<br><br>(from the Denver Post, "Library protest becomes rift over immigration" Aug.<br>9, 2005; article no longer free - see search at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/ytqvmq" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/ytqvmq</a> )<br>
<br>I quote this not to inspire a round of righteous indignation but because it<br>seems to me to encapsulate several aspects of the English-only drive. The<br>"received wisdom" of immigrants necessarily abandoning their home language.<br>
Perhaps the discomfort English monolinguals have felt in the company of<br>people who switch into other languages. Perhaps the exhasperation of<br>immigrant bilinguals at having their efforts to learn English be discounted<br>
because they are bilingual.<br><br>I don't mean to excuse the attitude expressed by someone telling a person<br>from another linguistic background that she "needs to speak English all the<br>time," but am trying to understand what goes behind that thinking. Having<br>
lived overseas in various kinds of sociolinguistic settings, the notion<br>seems patently ridiculous, but it is apparently widely held in the US.<br><br>Popular attitudes about language do affect policy, and education for change<br>
has to begin from understanding what the attitudes are. Obviously there is a<br>lot more involved, but what might be possible if the English-only's and the<br>bilingual immigrants (and former expatriates too, why not?) could talk<br>
openly about their experiences, hopes, fears, etc. with regard to language<br>in an unthreatening setting? (unlike where the recorded exchange took place)<br><font color="#888888"><br><br>Don Osborn<br></font>
<div class="Ih2E3d"><br><br>> -----Original Message-----<br>> From: <a href="mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu">owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:owner-lgpolicy-">owner-lgpolicy-</a><br>
</div>
<div class="Ih2E3d">> <a href="mailto:list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu">list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu</a>] On Behalf Of Carl Grove<br>> Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 10:15 PM<br>> To: <a href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>
</div>
<div>
<div></div>
<div class="Wj3C7c">> Subject: RE: Urban Legend "if it's good enough for Jesus"<br>><br>> The quote below may be urban legend, but the idea behind it is not.<br>> Having<br>> grown up in a very conservative church in a rural area it was not<br>
> uncommon<br>> to hear this sentiment articulated with regard to the King James<br>> Version of<br>> the Bible - if it was good enough for the Apostle Paul it's good enough<br>> for<br>> us. That was the main argument against using newer translations that<br>
> started<br>> showing up in the 1970s.<br>><br>> Having said that, for my dissertation I did a critical analysis of 15<br>> years<br>> worth of speeches made to support the "official English movement" in<br>
> Congress. I never saw this particular quote in any of those speeches.<br>> Lots<br>> of other ridiculous claims, but not that one.<br>><br>> Carl<br>><br>> -----Original Message-----<br>> From: <a href="mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu">owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>
> [mailto:<a href="mailto:owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu">owner-lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu</a>] On Behalf Of L Pierce<br>> Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2008 8:22 AM<br>> To: <a href="mailto:lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu">lgpolicy-list@ccat.sas.upenn.edu</a><br>
> Subject: Urban Legend "if it's good enough for Jesus"<br>><br>> I don't know with certainty that this is an Urban<br>> legend, but I suspect it is. I searched for it after<br>> receiving your email and could only find things that<br>
> lead me to think it is an urban legend. Below are two<br>> sources along with some good advice when considering<br>> quotes. However, if any of those who mentioned the<br>> quote and/or ascribed it to a person have a reliable<br>
> source that might rebut the urban legend idea.<br>><br>><br><a href="http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=32;t=000" target="_blank">http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=print_topic;f=32;t=000</a><br>
448<br></div></div>...<br><br><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br>Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br>Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>
University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br>
<a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------