Should Polish immigrants learn English to work in the UK?

Not sure I'm posting in the right section but here goes.. what do you all reckon to this?


news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=6074512

I agree it will be a positive step for both immigrants and British people. People from the UK will have at least one less reason to complain (currently they complain Polish workers cannot understand them enough to do a good job).

As the article states (I haven't read all of it), it can only affect people from outside the EU.

Very few people mention Welsh. Alright, that's not the issue.

It costs a lot of money to run translation services.
There are people who do not feel any need to learn English,
despite living here for years and years.
Most people who come here, speak English, would like to speak English, or do not have plans to stay for years and years.
However, it is not always easy for immigrants to find courses in the UK that they can afford / attend.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask people who want to live here to have a good command of the language but I don't think they should be required to wire into our traditions, I think that should be optional. The language is the main thing.

I agree :)

Seeing as Britain is a country of four (or more) nations, adopting our traditions
(many of which have been borrowed from other countries anyway)
does not seem like such a good idea.

To start with, do I follow British traditions enough?
Or should it be one rule for the British and another for anyone else?

To quote one of the peasants in 'Monty Python & the Holy Grail'
when King Arthur says he is King of the Britons:
'Who are they?'

I'd say a willingness to learn the language is the main thing. But of course that's tricky to measure.

I believe in equality.
If there are people who can't speak the official language,
how can they have the same opportunities,
how can they be equal?

Well, not if they introduce compulsory tests. If you pass, fine, if you fail, try again in say - 3 months. Sounds harsh but speaking for me, I wouldn't attempt to live in another country without a good command of the language. For a start, how can not knowing the native language benefit you? What is there was some kind of emergency?

Like the new av Cubic :)

Hopefully they will have the same opportunities once they've learned the language. Until then, at least they're here of their own free will. So no problem re equality?

Personally i feel that if you are coming to live or work in this country for a sustained amount of time then surely you should have a grasp of the basic language. It is a must, i have suffered many times because people i am talking to in shops etc cannot understand the queens english and their in customer services, what is going wrong.

I agree with you dolly that they don't particularly have to know all our traditions but if they are going to live here on a permanent basis then they must learn about our culture and lifestyle.

Me neither. Although I did live in the States for a while!


Thanks! I'm getting a headache, though.

Well, I see what you mean PD, but on the other hand, a Latvian woman at work was telling me when she came to Scotland she knew two words of English - please, and thank you. She now speaks almost like she was born here (I exaggerate quite wildly here..) after two years of being here. I think a good way to learn a language (or help learn -- really it must help to have a basic/decent knowledge) is to be amongst so many who speak it all day, every day - as she has done. I don't know if all foreign languages teachers do this - but my Spanish teacher was living in Spain for a year to grasp it properly.

I don't think it should be required - but I think it should be highly encouraged as :

Yes learn about but not conform to.

The language is the main thing and at the end of the day, if you learn the language you become bilingual which is something in itself.

why that - so long as they abide by our laws I don't find that makes a difference, other than it would perhaps help them integrate. But that would be their choice.

This is about non-EU immigrants...

isn't that the point, the country is separated enough we don't need to separate it even more with people coming into the country who don't understand what Britain is about, its ignorant and in excusable


to me its about all Immigrants

lol


lol, well you'd think you'd learn after the first 22 times :)


Not enough, not acceptable.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask people who wish to make their lives in this country, to have spent one year (school year maybe) learning English on a recognised English teaching course within their country.

I know I sound against people coming to this country but I am quite the opposite, I love learning about new cultures etc but I have known too many foreigners who wish to live here but have no interest in even the language.

No, It isn't...

But you don't suggest that just because Poles (for example) are part of the EU, they should not care about learning the language of the country they look for a job, do you. It will be a positive step overall, I think, regardless of the immigrant's nationality.

why not?? all immigrants should have to be able to speak some english and have a little knowledge of our culture if they are living here over a sustained period of time

No, I don't...


If British living in other EU countries had to pass native language tests, most of them would be kicked out back home.

Actually, Grzegorz has a point, the original article is about non-EU immigrants.

The woman at work I mention is now very capable of integration, she is no more separated now than those who came with knowledge of the language already. You might understand what a country 'is about' (to do that there would be many generalisations which would have to be drawn) but not wish to participate in it anyway. I'm sure people from the UK don't all follow set customs anyway.


I don't see why not - she has done well enough, where is the problem?


I don't really see the harm in this. There are some Scottish people know of who don't wish to speak to anybody else - so why should a foreigner feel the need to have an interest. I think it is unwise, sure, for it could surely only benefit them. But we cannot know the cicumstances of their coming here without having learned the most spoken language of a country - I imagine it was not a choice easily made for surely it would be daunting to go somewhere you would be usure of being understood! And those who are here and just not wanting to learn - if they are living happily enough what is the problem for you or I?


Not at all - I think you have proven already this is not your view! :)

thats true, but that dosen't really mean that people coming to this country should not take the same type of test or speak english. So why does the fact that being able or not being able to speak english not apply to all immigrants coming into the country, you've done everything but answer the question :)


i never said it wasn't i just said to me, it should apply to all immigrants :)

at least the thread title is not? Just perhaps an inappropriate article, but an interesting topic all the same.

Whose lifestyle?

Yours? Mine? The permenantly unemployed family down the road? My public school educated boss?
Northern Irish? Welsh? Cornish? Geordie?

i don't mean things like celebrating the queens birthday etc, i'm talking about UK mannerisms, everyday things and the type

Because that would be a violation of very basic EU rules...

these things can be easily picked up - if they wish to. How can our culture be enriched by other cultures though if those moving here follow our ways of life? Really, there are too many styles of living to actually collate us all together anyway in that way, as Osiol points out.