Ah, but you see, they are immigrants, while we are expats.
this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
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Polandball
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Wiggly mouse-drawn comics where balls represent different countries. They poke fun at national stereotypes and the "international drama" of their diplomatic relations. Polandball combines history, geography, Engrish, and an inferiority complex. God knows how the hell we’re supposed to do a wiki without using another website here….
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It's mad vs. eccentric all over again.
i'm neither mad nor eccentric, i'm just very silly 🤪
For those who don't know, jellied eel is a real thing in Britain.
American here! It is kinda weird to me how Hispanic immigrants don't at least learn English.
Went kayaking with my wife's coworker. Dude didn't know the most basic words like boy, girl, year. Figured he must have just got here. Nope! Been in America 5 years. Wife said they were all like that at work. Most would get pissy if she spoke English to them. Hell, my wife's been here 6 years and her English is good enough to talk calls. I can hear her working right now!
At the badass taco truck down the road, they can barely take an order in English! C'mon guys, all you need to learn is the menu and a handful of basic words customer's might use. OTOH, the people in their sister store are plenty fluent.
Those are only two anecdotes, but I've plenty more from both here and Chicago. Anyone know why this is? Dated a Jamaican girl from South Florida by way of Cuba. She said Spanish speakers didn't need English as they had their own communities. I argued that learning English couldn't be anything but helpful.
Also, it occurs to me that I might be a snob because I'm good at languages. Who knows?
People who move to another country need to learn at least the basics of the local language. Sure they might have their own communities for most day to day things but sooner or later they're gonna have to venture out of there and will inconvenience their kids to act as translators at the doctor's office or with the tax prep workers. I can't even imagine ordering food without at least making sure the burger or sandwich I'm ordering doesn't have mayo in it.
This is satire....right?
Good thing English isn’t the official language of the US.
I'm well aware. What does that have anything to do with it? Learning the language of the local populace seems like a no-brainer. If my wife and I retire to the Philippines, I'm going to learn Tagalog, at least enough to get by. And almost all Filipinos speak English already!
Ok, good. Definitely satire. Phew
The 1987 constitution designates Filipino, a de facto standardized version of Tagalog, as the national language and an official languagealong with English.
The official languages of the Philippines are English and Filipino (standardized Tagalog), so not a great example.
What does learning English have to do with living in America, where English is not the official language?
Whatever point you’re trying to make, English is the official language of the US as of March of this year.
While no legislation has been passed by the U.S. Congress to make English the official language,
You forgot this part.
Hmm, an illegal xenophobic executive order made by a fascist, racist dictatorship.
What point are you making?
anyone who thinks an order from trump has any validity whatsoever deserves to spend a full day standing next to a puddle and get constantly soaked by passing cars.
You people understand I’m not advocating for the decision, right? The fact is, that bastard is in charge of the country right now, and real people in real federal agencies are taking real actions with real consequences as a result of that very real executive order. Asserting that it isn’t valid or official if you personally don’t acknowledge it is utterly delusional “sovereign citizen” behavior.
There was a presidential order in March to do this. I don't know how enforcable this is or if it can become permanent.
The president is not congress, or 75% of states.
Hell, my wife’s been here 6 years and her English is good enough to talk calls.
Is yours good enough to "talk calls"?