MistressLorelei
Posts: 997
Joined: 11/7/2005 Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: MistressLorelei I'm ready for Spanish. I know quite a bit and am teaching my daughter what I know.... but I would love to be fluent in many languages. It's a wonderful thing; brain function is increased with knowledge of additional languages, and how wonderful to be able to communicate with many more people world-wide. Americans who think it's toxic to be exposed to other languages are at a major disadvantage. Most countries teach English in schools, and it is more common to go to other civilized nations and find people speaking English as a second language, than it is to come to the US and find people speaking Spanish, French, Italian, etc, as a second language. The US has a lot of Spanish-speaking people, and I see no reason why there shouldn't be room for two languages. I don't see a problem if the national anthem or the pledge is translated into another language... who does it hurt? Heaven forbid we should all be more tolerant, more culturally diverse and more knowledgeable. In my opinion, Americans often seem so hung up on being "American" that they sometimes forget they are human beings also. I'd love to see the The National Anthem re-written. We are so proud of bombs and war.... what about peace, love, beauty, and unity? I would have to move to another country to sing a song like that. Do you even know what the National Anthem is about? Where is it talking about being proud of bombs and war? Silly me, I thought it was about the pride Francis Scott Key felt as he saw the flag still flying amidst all the bombs and rockets exploding around it. And I always thought the lyrics to "America The Beautiful" were a celebration of peace, love, beauty and unity. See, if you actually know the lyrics to these songs, it might save you a trip. Of course I know the words and meaning of the song... it was shoved down my throat since I was a kid. While it's nice that it's part of our history, being proud of a symbolic cloth, or a song about it that is associated with war isn't a thrill for me... sorry. Our national anthem was placed to the tune of an old English drinking song... it doesn't make a good case that English is the primary language of the US (what is 'o'er'?, and Stanza three (especially) became a joke once the British became our allies in WWII. America the Beautiful is no more our national anthem than Born in the USA. As a matter of fact, I bet more of us can sing that song. I have no problem with our National Anthem.... to me it's just a song. I am not proud of it, I don't especially like the sound of it, it's difficult to sing, it has words no one ever uses outside of the song, and there is much more about America to be proud of today, than war. I certainly don't need to hear it every time I go to a baseball game. People (usually elderly folks) glare at me because I don't put my hand on my chest... and heaven forbid if I didn't stand (I guess it's not land of the free so much)... but it's just a song. And now this song is taking up the time and effort of government? Who cares what language people want to translate it to. We have real issues in this country that government and residents should be focusing on. Are flag burning and a national anthem really top priorities? If you like it... sing it, but don't tell me I don't know what it's about.
< Message edited by MistressLorelei -- 8/30/2006 10:05:31 PM >
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