Do you really think that illegal immigrants don't try enough to learn the english language?

what language?

if you are referring to the USA then I have no problem with it.
1. We don’t have a set national language.
2. This country needs more culture in the middle. Hopefully it will trickle in from the sides.
3. It has sparked me to brush up on other languages.

Some do, some don’t. you really can’t generalize. you are doing a great job, signing up with a forum where you are constantly typing and having human interaction will help you master the language quickly. and i agree with everything judochop said.

well not everybody thinks like you, there’s people who say that NO ONE even try to learn..

When I was living in Denmark, I knew a few English and Irish people living there and they weren’t making much of an attempt to learn Danish.

its really based on a person’s personality (willingness to learn), need (circumstances) and experience learning other foreign languages.

I think they’re fine, and your lucky to be who you are and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Just the fact that you’re trying is awesome.
Good Job.

I think the thing is that so many Americans don’t speak a foreign language and haven’t traveled outside the U.S., so they have no idea how hard it is to really master another language. They think immigrants can absorb a language as difficult as English if they would just “try hard.” I wish everyone who thought that way could be plopped down in Mexico city for 6 months with no money to pay for language-immersion lessons – they’d see how hard it really is!

I am American and English is my first language – but I have lived in two different countries besides the US, and struggled hard to learn both foreign languages – I was able to do it, but both were substantially easier than English, and in both cases I had money to pay for top-knotch lessons, and had friends who were native-speakers and willing to help me integrate into the culture.

When I returned to the US I worked tutoring highschool students for whom English was a second language. I never realized how confusing English is until I had to teach phrasal verbs – it’s practically impossible to explain them to a non-native speakers. Try to explain the different uses of the word “run” in the phrases “I ran into him” “the house looked run-down” “she gave me the run-around” “your nose is running” “time ran out” “you’re going to run up a hefty bill” ...the list could go on and on, and that’s just for “run.” English is a crazy language. Keep up your good work and don’t let people discourage you!

I can see why legal immigrants would want to learn the language, but unless an illegal immigrant has a chance through some policy to gain a foothold and the ability to move forward in their lives in the country, then it would certainly be in their best interests to learn the language.

@ occ – very well said! English is actually one of the hardest languages to learn. I am currently learning Chinese from a native speaker and in return I am helping her with English. CHINESE is easier than English (i am not counting the written language). Most trilingual or polylingual speakers will tell you that unless your learned English from day one, it is the hardest of them all.

English spelling and grammar is convoluted. No doubt! (I still remember having to memorize 3 sets of irregular verbs for each lesson). Having said that, learning conversation English is far easier than other languages like Spanish or Danish (although with Danish it’s mostly because of the impossible pronunciation).

I don’t really know about Danish…but I think of Spanish/French as fairly easy.

I could never get my head around the fact that a statement and a question are worded exactly the same…..but then, that was my attempted 5th language (4th didn’t go so well either – German)

One of my biggest regrets is not trying to learn more languages when i was younger. But i blame most of that on the American school system. I learned french in school and loved it! I always wanted to learn more languages, but never had the opportunity. In Europe, kids learn 3–4 languages in school. It is SO much easier to learn a language when you are younger (well i am just 19, but now I am too busy worrying about college and real world stuff)

There’s a saying in Faroese (might not translate all that well):
“Out of necessity, a naked woman will learn to weave”

That’s pretty much my basis for being multi-lingual. There’s only 50000 people that speak my native language, only 5 mill. that speak my second language, so English comes in handy….

I think everyone in the US should be required to speak English. I do….

why do people keep saying this.. there are people that go to classes and schools that help you learn english. even when i go to mexico they want me to teach them how to speak english. it’s just hard for them. my parents have been in the US for about 34 yrs. and don’t speak english well. they try but its kind of hard to learn some other language when all u have spoken was one language. i help them in every way that i can. also they aren’t in the environment where english is the main language. my dad is a gardener and well he has learned some english through speaking to his clients.

@gooch Yeah you are right! If everybody speak English you could have a conversation with everybody!
You should learn another language… I am not saying Spanish, maybe Japanese or French

@ el Pereguidor I do speak French.

good for you