Re: ChivasUSA.com Its also written on hemp. But I don't see hemp being touted as the official paper product of the nation.
Re: ChivasUSA.com And indeed it is a shame hemp isn't used more..... I have lived all over the world and the only country I have seen official government forms, documents, etc. in more than one language is the U S A. Every country where I had the opportunity to see any type of government forms they were in a single language - that particular country's official language. Any government forms in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece were all only in one language. In each of those countries I was expected to learn their language, not the other way around.
Re: ChivasUSA.com You are correct, that is why they were not mentioned. Any others? Perhaps Mexico, oops no they only support spanish. So? I'm not offended by it, it is their language after all and if I went to live there I would expect to learn more of it in a hurry.
Re: ChivasUSA.com Is see you mentioned Spain. Is it safe to assume that you never went to Catalonia, Galicia or the Basque country?
Re: ChivasUSA.com Netherlands: Dutch, Flemish, German, English, Fryssian Mexico: Spanish, and a whole lot of people who mostly speak native indian languages India: Hindi, Kadrathi, Urdu. . . . The United Kindom: English, Welsh, Gaelic/Irish
Re: ChivasUSA.com This is funny. I'm not talking about dialects of the same language or religious groups here. Offical government support on documents is what I mentioned. The UK, it is all English. India, same basic language with different dialects that are spoken, again the government is what I mentioned not what is spoken on the streets. Netherlands, never been there so I don't know. I'm sure there are at least a dozen countries and probably more who support multiple languages, there is always an exception to anything, just I had never seen one other than the U.S. in all my travels. In North Africa I'm sure there are countries that support Arabic and French. My point was that it is not the normal practice in the majority of countries to officially support multiple languages. Any argument to the contrary would be misguided.
Re: ChivasUSA.com The important points are 1) The United States is not like most other countries as they have a HUGE influx of immigrants 2) A vast majority of these immigrants are of spanish speaking decent. 3) I don't want to be completly wrong but I have heard/ read reports that either hispanics will soon be the largest minority group in the United States, or they already are. 4) The fact that Hispanics are or will soon be the largest minority group does pose a dilema as they are not like the previous minority group (african americans) who do speak and read english. The vast majority of this group speak and read another language. 5) This all goes back to one of my original thoughts that some english speaking people of the United States are reluctant to acknowledge this new minority as they feel it represtents them having to make some concesions.
Re: ChivasUSA.com Very true. People will have to adjust on both sides. It is this resistance to change and the feeling of losing something that has people so upset. Regarding Chivas LA, I can see where it is the "idea" of MLS becoming more like a league in another country (in this case Mexico) that has some angered by it. I would like to see MLS create and keep it owns identity just like all of the other top leagues in the world rather than copy anyone. Again, at this point it is just an idea and we will have to wait to discover what really happens. MLS is a very young league in comparison and perhaps should adopt some of the styles of play from the countries closest to the US that already have a huge influence on the culture and population. Overall I hope it will be a good thing for development of the young players to be exposed to different styles of play... the more tools you have in your toolbox sort of thing.
Re: ChivasUSA.com 1. The United States has no official language. 2. If you come to the United States from any other country, I am perfectly fine with it...as long as at least attempt to speak the phucking language, which, while not official, IS ENGLISH. You hear that!...Learn to speak phucking english! If you don't like it, go the phuck home! 3. Whenever I go to another country, I always at least try to speak their language, even if I butcher it. Most people appreciate my effort to try. It is the same here in the US. At least TRY to speak English...it is just curteous, and shows some respect. 4. If Chivas LA wants to have Spanish as its official language...fine, they'll just alientate people and piss them off. Phuck 'em.
Re: ChivasUSA.com Cherokee, Apache, Huron, Pueblo, Mohawk......etc these are the real U.S. languages.
Re: ChivasUSA.com Misguided huh? I love sentences like that. "What I've just said is right, and if you argue, you're out of line" Well, Welsh is NOT a dialect of english. Really they have almost nothing in common, Nor are the Welsh or the Irish a different "Religious" sect. You go to Wales, signs are in Welsh and English. Go to Ireland, signs are in Irish and English. The central government in London might operate solely in English, but not local governements. Also, saying India has one basic language, with lots of dialects, is like saying France, Spain, and Portugal all share a language with different dialects. Again, with Hawai'i, the United States brought a semi-official language to the people, and tried to stop the use of Hawaiian, but failed. Try living in Hawaii, and you'll see what I mean. Road signs might stay in English, but hang out with the locals, and there's a BIG difference. The point being, a Central, Federal government may operate in one language, but at the state, provincial, and local level, you'll find a wide amount of governmental official support of different languages. I believe, at last count, official forms from the city of Los Angeles could come in 27 different languages.
Re: ChivasUSA.com Well.. I am basing my posts on experience. I know a little bit about languages, I was a translator for the US govt for 8 years, hence the travel which also gives me additional experience regarding those countries I mentioned. Ireland is not part of the UK. You mentioned Hindi, which by the way is THE official language of India, India passed a law or act in the 1960's. You continue to show your ignorance on the subject. You also continue to use examples inside of the US, which makes my point for me. Thank you.
Re: ChivasUSA.com The Republic of Ireland is not part of the UK. Northern Ireland (unfortunately) is. I'm not sure how I'm showing my ignorance on the subject, though. I'm saying that there is a big difference between De Jure Official languages and De Facto Official Languages. As a linguist, I imagine you've recognized this throughout the world. And if I'm making your point for you, maybe I've lost track of you point. . . . EDIT: ok, I went back about 3 pages. So you're saying that the US is the only country with documents in different languages. . . Sorry, I lost that somewhere. But it's not true, as we've tried to illustrate.
Re: ChivasUSA.com In all the discussion the point doesn't matter anymore. Obviously, I'm interested in linguistics and took the opportunity relive some of my past. I enjoyed the banter very much, although I'm not sure others have, way off topic
Re: ChivasUSA.com Alas, this is only mostly true. In 1990/1 ish it became true, and the Prince of Spain gave the governor of PR an award for supporting Spanish. After the next election, when a statehood party governor won, he got it passed so that English was also an official language in PR.
Re: ChivasUSA.com I've finally read through all the posts. Great discussion. Only two cents I would like to add at this point is that http://www.chivasdecorazon.com.mx/nueva/links.php, which someone posted earlier, is a Mexican site and therefore is reasonably in Spanish. It's listed at google, and at the site itself as the official site of Club Guadalajara, i.e. the Mexican team whose owner will also own the LA based Chivas team. http://www.uschivas.com/usa.html is a fan site in English.
Re: ChivasUSA.com I just want to say one thing regarding Chivas LA hispanic-only policy as a fan of a team with a similar policy. To all MLS fans, embrace it, it truely is an interesting policy that can only make the MLS more compelling to watch. As an Athletic Bilbao fan, were we only field Basques(And I want to clarify, you don't have to be a Racial or Ethnic Basque to be considered Basque, you only have to be raised in a Basque cultural way), we have tremendous pride in our team, they actually represent us, they are not mercienaries(sp?), these players love the team as much as we do. While I under stand the intial hostility, in the long run, this policy will add a spice to the league, and any owner who wants to bring good football to the league should be encouraged, not railed on.