Candidate barred for improper command of english

[ayin jade]

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120208/us_nm/us_arizona_candidate_language;_ylt=AhEMV1mXyXD.ui70.rP2v..s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFlMnE0NHNsBHBvcwM2MARzZWMDYWNjb3JkaW9uX3Vfc19uZXdzBHNsawNhcml6b25hY291cnQ-

[nebula]

Be interesting to see what, if anything, becomes of this.

[amor]

There seem to be several issues here. First and foremost, in a democracy it should be the votes who decide who represents them not a committee. If they're foolish enough to elect someone who lacks the ability to perform the role fully that is their problem.

Secondly, the article quoted indicates that whilst not perfect she does have a level of competency in the language that makes her capable of participating in a interview with a journalist from a reputable newsagency

Cabrera acknowledged to Reuters that her command of English was not perfect but said she can read it, understand and respond. During the interview, she spoke with intensity and passion, but sometimes in the wrong tense, or with the order of words scrambled.

As a teacher of English all I can say is that tense and word order errors are a problem for learners who have overall a fairly high general level of communicative comptence.

Thirdly, given the location of her hometown, San Juan (perhaps it would be more appropriate to change that to St John), on the Mexican border and the fact that this is in an area that was itself once part of Mexico it seems likely that this has been a bilingual area this the time of its annexation by the USA. It is one thing to quibble about the use of a foreign language by a migrant community it is another to deny long settled communities to use their language.

Fourthly, the move to have her disqualified is proposed by the local mayor whose policies and competence she is challenging, which to me at least stinks. It sounds like a nervous politician trying to nix an opponent

[nebula]

Thirdly, given the location of her hometown, San Juan (perhaps it would be more appropriate to change that to St John), on the Mexican border and the fact that this is in an area that was itself once part of Mexico it seems likely that this has been a bilingual area this the time of its annexation by the USA. It is one thing to quibble about the use of a foreign language by a migrant community it is another to deny long settled communities to use their language.

Not sure where you got t his.

The article says she was born in Yuma, AZ. Yuma was no different than the rest of Arizona in becoming a US state in the late-mid 1800's.

And it says she was "running for city council in the town of San Luis."

San Luis was established in 1930.

So nothing was annexed, at least not in a time frame relevant to there being any excuse for an inability to know English.

[joi]

Pimsleur Approach teaches a new language in ten days for $9.95 - search it.

Since she already has some English it should be pretty easy for her to master it with this system.

[oldzimm]

I don't see what the problem is here, all this lady has to do is apply herself and improve her (American) English skills, then run for office the next time around. If being elected into office isn't incentive enough to learn English, then she didn't want the office that bad and all she wanted was to be a drama queen.

[amor]

Sorry St luis anyway a clearly Spansh name so presumably it was a Spanish speaking arrea at the time of its establishment in 1930, well after it gained statehood in1912.

The UK most other European countries have bilingual regions and Canada is a bilingual nation. Why do some in the US feel so threatened by the idea of people speaking Spanish or other languages? Particularly in areas which were settled by Spanish speakers prior to incorporation into the USA.

[ayin jade]

Yuma was no different than the rest of Arizona in becoming a US state in the late-mid 1800's.

Actually Arizona became a state February 14, 1912. We are celebrating our centennial this year.

[ayin jade]

Sorry St luis anyway a clearly Spansh name so presumably it was a Spanish speaking arrea at the time of its establishment in 1930, well after it gained statehood in1912.

The UK most other European countries have bilingual regions and Canada is a bilingual nation. Why do some in the US feel so threatened by the idea of people speaking Spanish or other languages? Particularly in areas which were settled by Spanish speakers prior to incorporation into the USA.

Amor you have no concept of the western united states. We use spanish and indian names all the time out here long after any spanish settlers were ever here. They were not named by the spanish or indians. They were named by americans who decided to use spanish or indian names.

San Luis, although founded long afterwards, is part of a region that was sold to the us long ago. It is US soil. Not mexican. Not spanish. The governments in the us and in arizona use english. Arizona is an english only state regarding government affairs. She cannot effectively serve without the ability to speak english.

[nebula]

Actually Arizona became a state February 14, 1912. We are celebrating our centennial this year.

OK. I misinterpreted what the particular website stated.