In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 5 May 2023 08:34:17 -0400, Wade Garrett
<wade@cooler.net> wrote:

>On 5/2/23 7:44 PM, Thomas wrote:
>> A family just bought the next door house.
>> They speak no English at all, I speak no Spanish at all.
>> What resources can I grab to communicate both ways?
>> The guy is there fixing up the place, major work everyday with many days to go.
>> I want to say little things.
>> "Do you need a tool?"
>> Do you need my hose?
>> Can I help?
>> My name is Tom, what's yours?
>> I have looked at some books on Amazon that might help but I will not understand the response.
>> Right now the comms are a wave hello.
>
>If they move here, they need to learn to speak our language, not be
>catered to. That's what my great-grandparents did when they arrived at
>Ellis Island at the end of the 19th century.

Are you sure your ggparents learned English more than a few words?
Especially your ggmother?

How long did it take them? How long have Thomas's neighbors been in the
US?

>We have a flag, we have a language, we have a culture. Fall in...or get out.

It's absolutely not your place to say such a thing. They haven't done
anything wrong except not speak English, like millions of other good
immigrants.

Where were your ggparents from? Ireland?

On Fri, 05 May 2023 13:07:18 GMT, Cindy Hamilton wrote:

> Ann Arbor, Michigan, had German-language newspapers until (IIRC)
> World War I.

https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/11625-
Wu999_v1_001.jpg

Die Philadelphische Zeitung was the first non-English newspaper published
in what was to become the US. It was started in 1732 by Benjamin Franklin.

Both WWI and WWII resulted in suppressing the German language. The family
German Shepherd became a 'police dog' for the duration although that
wasn't his job description.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/largest-ethnic-groups-and-
nationalities-in-the-united-states.html

Germans still are the largest ethnic group at 14.7%.

On 5/5/2023 10:10 AM, micky wrote:
> In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 5 May 2023 08:34:17 -0400, Wade Garrett
> <wade@cooler.net> wrote:
>
>> On 5/2/23 7:44 PM, Thomas wrote:
>>> A family just bought the next door house.
>>> They speak no English at all, I speak no Spanish at all.
>>> What resources can I grab to communicate both ways?
>>> The guy is there fixing up the place, major work everyday with many days to go.
>>> I want to say little things.
>>> "Do you need a tool?"
>>> Do you need my hose?
>>> Can I help?
>>> My name is Tom, what's yours?
>>> I have looked at some books on Amazon that might help but I will not understand the response.
>>> Right now the comms are a wave hello.
>>
>> If they move here, they need to learn to speak our language, not be
>> catered to. That's what my great-grandparents did when they arrived at
>> Ellis Island at the end of the 19th century.
>
> Are you sure your ggparents learned English more than a few words?
> Especially your ggmother?
>
> How long did it take them? How long have Thomas's neighbors been in the
> US?
>
>> We have a flag, we have a language, we have a culture. Fall in...or get out.
>
> It's absolutely not your place to say such a thing. They haven't done
> anything wrong except not speak English, like millions of other good
> immigrants.
>
> Where were your ggparents from? Ireland?

Just a rightie pretending that he is superior to someone different from
himself. The USA is based on showing him to be wrong.

On Fri, 5 May 2023 08:34:17 -0400, Wade Garrett <wade@cooler.net> wrote:

>On 5/2/23 7:44 PM, Thomas wrote:
>> A family just bought the next door house.
>> They speak no English at all, I speak no Spanish at all.
>> What resources can I grab to communicate both ways?
>> The guy is there fixing up the place, major work everyday with many days to go.
>> I want to say little things.
>> "Do you need a tool?"
>> Do you need my hose?
>> Can I help?
>> My name is Tom, what's yours?
>> I have looked at some books on Amazon that might help but I will not understand the response.
>> Right now the comms are a wave hello.
>
>If they move here, they need to learn to speak our language, not be
>catered to. That's what my great-grandparents did when they arrived at
>Ellis Island at the end of the 19th century.
>
>We have a flag, we have a language, we have a culture. Fall in...or get out.

We not only have a language, we have many languages, and not one of them
is an official language.

From Google:
There are five countries in the world that do not have an official
language. These countries are the United States, the United Kingdom,
Australia, Costa Rica, and Eritrea. English is the primary language
spoken in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

On 5/5/2023 1:14 PM, rbowman wrote:
> On Fri, 05 May 2023 13:07:18 GMT, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>
>> Ann Arbor, Michigan, had German-language newspapers until (IIRC)
>> World War I.
> https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/11625-Wu999_v1_001.jpg
>
> Die Philadelphische Zeitung was the first non-English newspaper published
> in what was to become the US. It was started in 1732 by Benjamin Franklin.
>
> Both WWI and WWII resulted in suppressing the German language. The family
> German Shepherd became a 'police dog' for the duration although that
> wasn't his job description.
>
> https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/largest-ethnic-groups-and-nationalities-in-the-united-states.html
>
> Germans still are the largest ethnic group at 14.7%.

I heard the British Royal Family was German stock, except the Greek guy
who passed not long ago.

On Fri, 5 May 2023 13:59:54 -0400, 😎 Mighty Wannabe ✅ wrote:

> On 5/5/2023 1:14 PM, rbowman wrote:
>> On Fri, 05 May 2023 13:07:18 GMT, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
>>
>>> Ann Arbor, Michigan, had German-language newspapers until (IIRC)
>>> World War I.
>> https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/11625-
Wu999_v1_001.jpg
>>
>> Die Philadelphische Zeitung was the first non-English newspaper
>> published in what was to become the US. It was started in 1732 by
>> Benjamin Franklin.
>>
>> Both WWI and WWII resulted in suppressing the German language. The
>> family German Shepherd became a 'police dog' for the duration although
>> that wasn't his job description.
>>
>> https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/largest-ethnic-groups-and-
nationalities-in-the-united-states.html
>>
>> Germans still are the largest ethnic group at 14.7%.
>
>
> I heard the British Royal Family was German stock, except the Greek guy
> who passed not long ago.

You do realize the House of Windsor was invented 105 years ago? It had
been the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha which was an offshoot of the House
of Wettin. Prior to Victoria it was the House of Hanover. There is some
dispute over whether George I could speak English, George II was
bilingual, and George III was a nutter known to speak in tongues. George
IV was a drunken doper that screwed everything in sight. William IV left a
horde of bastards but no legitimate heir so Victoria got the throne. She
married her first cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and so it went.

In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 5 May 2023 10:26:22 -0700, Bob F
<bobnospam@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 5/5/2023 10:10 AM, micky wrote:
>> In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 5 May 2023 08:34:17 -0400, Wade Garrett
>> <wade@cooler.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On 5/2/23 7:44 PM, Thomas wrote:
>>>> A family just bought the next door house.
>>>> They speak no English at all, I speak no Spanish at all.
>>>> What resources can I grab to communicate both ways?
>>>> The guy is there fixing up the place, major work everyday with many days to go.
>>>> I want to say little things.
>>>> "Do you need a tool?"
>>>> Do you need my hose?
>>>> Can I help?
>>>> My name is Tom, what's yours?
>>>> I have looked at some books on Amazon that might help but I will not understand the response.
>>>> Right now the comms are a wave hello.
>>>
>>> If they move here, they need to learn to speak our language, not be
>>> catered to. That's what my great-grandparents did when they arrived at
>>> Ellis Island at the end of the 19th century.
>>
>> Are you sure your ggparents learned English more than a few words?
>> Especially your ggmother?
>>
>> How long did it take them? How long have Thomas's neighbors been in the
>> US?
>>
>>> We have a flag, we have a language, we have a culture. Fall in...or get out.
>>
>> It's absolutely not your place to say such a thing. They haven't done
>> anything wrong except not speak English, like millions of other good
>> immigrants.
>>
>> Where were your ggparents from? Ireland?
>
>Just a rightie pretending that he is superior to someone different from
>himself.

Yes. People like that seem to have doubts about how good they and their
family really are. Or they woudln't feel the need to attack others.

> The USA is based on showing him to be wrong.

Immigration if a process of self-selection, where the most ambitious are
the ones who leave their homes and come here. They and their children,
who learn the same positive qualities, strengthen the US.

In the 19th and early 20th century, all one had to do was get to a city
with ships headed for the US, pay $5 or 10, and ride for 6 days to get
here. It still required ambition to move to a new country where you
didn't have a job or know the language, etc. But the people coming
through our southern border now have had to show much more determination
to make the far longer, far more arduous, far more dangerous trip that
they do. In another 20 to 30 years we will see many of them
accomplishing a great deal that benefits the US.

And of course this bothers some people who have never done anything
outstanding.