THE TOPIC THAT SET MY FACEBOOK PAGE ON FIRE!The topic of bilingual pay will soon be taken up by Houston's City Council. Council member Anne Clutterbuck feels those who speak a second language shouldn't be paid extra. This topic is a fire cracker. It lit up my Facebook page with more than 70 comments in less than a half hour. What do you think about the issue? Should people be paid extra for speaking a second language on a job? Here are some of the explosive comments that hit my Facebook page:
Sheila Phillips
NOT FAIR!! The language here is English, Learn it or suffer!
Stephanie Jackson
Have mixed emotions... Just tired of employment ads sayin MUST BE BILINGUAL ! I've encourged my 12 yr old to study spanish and to be sure she puts it on her resume that she's bilingual.
Jarvis Brown
Here's a wild idea: How about people who move to an English-speaking country making an effort to learn to speak English? A nation shouldn't have to adapt to the immigrant; it should be the other way around.
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Candy Campos
Totally Fair--Don't like it-TOO BAD.....maybe those who don't agree should learn a 2nd language...I have an 11 year old who speaks fluently in spanish and english and on her way to a 3rd language!!!
Candy Campos
Yeah Jarvis you got the wild part right---those immigrants who move here and don't know english are more hardworking than some African-Americans who do know the language!!! Interesting huh?
Personally, I think speaking a second language is always an advantage.
ReplyDeleteNow, if I was moving to Germany or France, I would learn to speak GErman or French. I wouldn't get there and then expect leaflets to be printed for me in multitudes of languages.
So, it makes sense that if a person was moving to a country to live, that they learn the language.
I live in London and there are so many people who live here who will tell you "no speaky english". How can you live in a country for 10-15 years and you haven't learned the language and need interpreters, which are then paid for by the Government who let them in to live witout knowing english in the first place....just ridiculous.
Anyway, I think if you are using your language in your job to help customers who are on holiday, for example if you work in a hotel and speak two or three languages, then you should be paid more, having taken the time and effort to learn another language.
Some people learn languages easily anyway. I knew a guy who spoke 7 languages owing to the fact that he was mixed and both parents spoke several languages between them. It was fascinating to hear him switching between languages at the drop of a hat.
Among the languages he spoke were French, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Lingala and two others which I can't remember off the top of my head right now. Wow!
City employees that don't interact with the public should not receive
ReplyDeleteextra pay for supposedly being bilingual. Common sense.
Yep, I agree that people who don't interact with the public should not be paid extra.
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