LMAO, ok, whats wrong with this ad??

Forum Sponsor
rafiki911 said:
That is exactly what I am talking about. He didn't and doesn't speak good english when he came to Canada when he got his licence and he is an excellent driver...

So people that go on vacations to forign countries should not be able to rent a car or motorcycle becuase they don't speak the language...
Click to expand...

It's obvious first generation Canadians are not expected to have perfect English skills, but unless the system has changed recently, one of the requirements for immigration is speaking one of the official languages. If a person doesn't know a word in either language, how did they pass the interview? I have a lot of Russian friends, and some of those guys would starve if their russian stores would close down. I'm sure there are similar cases in every community.

If your dad ran a sucessful business in Canada for 40 years, that means he's been here at least that long. Why didn't he learn English? I know accents are impossible to elliminate past a certain age, but after so many years his vocabulary and grammar should match a native Canadian's. I stayed in Mexico for a week, and by the end I could understand some Spanish. I guess it helps that I'm fluent in English and two other latin languages, but I also made a conscious effort to learn.

Next time don't be so defensive, and don't bring up family matters on an internet forum.
 
croco said:
It's obvious first generation Canadians are not expected to have perfect English skills, but unless the system has changed recently, one of the requirements for immigration is speaking one of the official languages. If a person doesn't know a word in either language, how did they pass the interview? I have a lot of Russian friends, and some of those guys would starve if their russian stores would close down. I'm sure there are similar cases in every community.

If your dad ran a sucessful business in Canada for 40 years, that means he's been here at least that long. Why didn't he learn English? I know accents are impossible to elliminate past a certain age, but after so many years his vocabulary and grammar should match a native Canadian's. I stayed in Mexico for a week, and by the end I could understand some Spanish. I guess it helps that I'm fluent in English and two other latin languages, but I also made a conscious effort to learn.

Next time don't be so defensive, and don't bring up family matters on an internet forum.
Click to expand...

When he came he didn't speak it at all, over the years of having his business it got better, now that he sold it his english is getting bad again.

I was just trying to point out that just because you don't know the language doesn't mean you shouldn't drive that's all.
 
rafiki911 said:
When he came he didn't speak it at all, over the years of having his business it got better, now that he sold it his english is getting bad again.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

I was just trying to point out that just because you don't know the language doesn't mean you shouldn't drive that's all.
Click to expand...

Think about it for a second though. You get into an accident, and you need to call for help because either you or someone else is injured. No matter where you are on this planet, you will eventually find somebody at the other end of the line that will speak English or French, however poorly. But if you only speak an uncommon language like I do, you'll die bleeding at the side of the highway because you were unable to give directions to the paramedics.

Should you still be allowed to drive if you can't communicate at all?
 
croco said:
Fair enough.



Think about it for a second though. You get into an accident, and you need to call for help because either you or someone else is injured. No matter where you are on this planet, you will eventually find somebody at the other end of the line that will speak English or French, however poorly. But if you only speak an uncommon language like I do, you'll die bleeding at the side of the highway because you were unable to give directions to the paramedics.

Should you still be allowed to drive if you can't communicate at all?
Click to expand...

Not sure, do deaf people drive?(not being sarcastic just curious) He is very good with directions. He knew every major intersection in Toronto and what direction he is travelling. So in an emergencey way back when his English was worse he could prob communicate where he was at, but not really understand what the dispatcher wanted if she needed any other info. My mom on the other hand came her as a teen and completed high school. That probably helped him too.
 
croco said:
It's obvious first generation Canadians are not expected to have perfect English skills, but unless the system has changed recently, one of the requirements for immigration is speaking one of the official languages. If a person doesn't know a word in either language, how did they pass the interview? I have a lot of Russian friends, and some of those guys would starve if their russian stores would close down. I'm sure there are similar cases in every community.

If your dad ran a sucessful business in Canada for 40 years, that means he's been here at least that long. Why didn't he learn English? I know accents are impossible to elliminate past a certain age, but after so many years his vocabulary and grammar should match a native Canadian's. I stayed in Mexico for a week, and by the end I could understand some Spanish. I guess it helps that I'm fluent in English and two other latin languages, but I also made a conscious effort to learn.

Next time don't be so defensive, and don't bring up family matters on an internet forum.
Click to expand...

When I was a kid, you could make do in downtown Brampton without speaking anything but Portuguese. Now the same can be said of Hindi.
 
ATTS said:
I guess he got to many phone calls, the ad is gone. Thanks for posting a copy.




He can't read any English but he can read english signs? Maybe he ran a business so well because he is magical.
Click to expand...

lol yes he is magical... He knows the letters, so with a sign with a few words he sounds it out and he can say it. If you give him directions he only wants the first 3 letters of the Street. In the 44 years he has been in Canada he has only been lost a couple times and that was places that he had to go to out of Toronto.
 
I'd guess the dad in question has a successful business and maybe like many stores in the more ethnic parts of town, only really caters to those of the same ethnicity. Rampant, and doesn't allow ppl like me (read coloured white person) to easily shop there. NOt that there's anything wrong with it, but ethnics that don't really climatize, tend to stick together and as such, shop at places catering to them -language and products alike.

Not that there's anything really wrong with it, but as a canadian, when you're ethnic, I think if you move here, you need to play by the rules of the place and not disclude those that are already here. Doesn't contribute in my opinion...it segregates.

But a degree of english is required to live here and function along with the community. If a person has to spend a longer amount of time to read a sign while driving, it's like those jackasses that slow down in traffic cuz they're trying to feverishly text...you can always see those ppl lagging back from teh flow of traffic.
 
Rob MacLennan said:
When I was a kid, you could make do in downtown Brampton without speaking anything but Portuguese. Now the same can be said of Hindi.
Click to expand...

And as a a second generation immigrant (I came here when I was 16), I can say I have a problem with that. Because of those very closed up communities, people can survive without mingling with the general population, and have no incentives to integrate into the Canadian society. If you live in a country for more than a couple of years you have no excuse for not speaking the official language, at least on a rudimentary level. If my parents and I could do it, why can't everybody?

I know I'll stir up a lot of trouble, but I truly think one of the requirements for being granted citizenship should be a TOEFL exam or its French equivalent.
 
JFD said:
I'd guess the dad in question has a successful business and maybe like many stores in the more ethnic parts of town, only really caters to those of the same ethnicity. Rampant, and doesn't allow ppl like me (read coloured white person) to easily shop there. NOt that there's anything wrong with it, but ethnics that don't really climatize, tend to stick together and as such, shop at places catering to them -language and products alike.

Not that there's anything really wrong with it, but as a canadian, when you're ethnic, I think if you move here, you need to play by the rules of the place and not disclude those that are already here. Doesn't contribute in my opinion...it segregates.

But a degree of english is required to live here and function along with the community. If a person has to spend a longer amount of time to read a sign while driving, it's like those jackasses that slow down in traffic cuz they're trying to feverishly text...you can always see those ppl lagging back from teh flow of traffic.
Click to expand...

There we go again. :D There IS something really wrong with it dammit! :) We live in Canada, NOT in Russia, China, Pakistan or wherever else. You can speak any language you choose at home or at social gatherings. But business should be conducted in the official language.
 
JFD said:
I'd guess the dad in question has a successful business and maybe like many stores in the more ethnic parts of town, only really caters to those of the same ethnicity. Rampant, and doesn't allow ppl like me (read coloured white person) to easily shop there. NOt that there's anything wrong with it, but ethnics that don't really climatize, tend to stick together and as such, shop at places catering to them -language and products alike.

Not that there's anything really wrong with it, but as a canadian, when you're ethnic, I think if you move here, you need to play by the rules of the place and not disclude those that are already here. Doesn't contribute in my opinion...it segregates.

But a degree of english is required to live here and function along with the community. If a person has to spend a longer amount of time to read a sign while driving, it's like those jackasses that slow down in traffic cuz they're trying to feverishly text...you can always see those ppl lagging back from teh flow of traffic.
Click to expand...

Wrong again... why does every one like to assume.

We are Greek...the store was a West Indian Grocery store. One of the first ones in Toronto. When he originately bought it it was a fish market with some groceries.

If your confused about how he would comunicate, under every sign in the store he would spell it out in Greek so that he would know what the customer wanted. That is how he learned to speak English.
 
rafiki911 said:
That is exactly what I am talking about. He didn't and doesn't speak good english when he came to Canada when he got his licence and he is an excellent driver...

So people that go on vacations to forign countries should not be able to rent a car or motorcycle becuase they don't speak the language...
Click to expand...


Ahh, yes, everyone thinks they are an excellent driver. Especially the ones who can barely speak the language.

As for people who go on vacation to other countries and rent a car or motorcycle, the key word is that they are on vacation. Whereas your father moved to Canada to live here.
 
Lightcycle said:
It's a Suzuki R6.
Click to expand...

Anyone who knows their jam knows this is a Ducati RSV4 with earlier model Triumph Sprint skins.

Re the language debate...why not start another thread, this one was intended on being light hearted and it got wrongly hijacked.
 
anth1414 said:
the ability to speak/read/write English is very important when attempting to become a licensed driver. the roads and hi-ways are polluted with directions/information/words all written in, you guessed it, ENGLISH!!!!

you should learn the language of the country you are in before you get a licence

no different than myself moving to another country.
if i plan to be licensed in that foreign country, a requirement should be to read/write/speak that language.
Click to expand...

Actually it's the other way round, road signs should be posted in a universal language, meaning symbols and images. This is the thinking that lead to 95% of the signs we use now. The idea is that language shouldn't be an impediment to road use, not only for those with poor literacy but also for the sake of foreign visitors. They do this very well in Europe because of all the different languages and the frequency of travel between countries, but in Canada and the US we have slowly been eroding this notion.

And you don't have to be literate to be able to follow road signs, just have to be able to differentiate most of the characters of the alphabet. Worst case is they get lost, that's not a danger to anyone.
 
Yea very funny he didn't know he had a Suzuki, I get that but when some one says that you have to speak English to drive or ride that is just not cool.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom