Italy makes immigrants speak Italian for work visa

[JEDIYoda]

I totally 100% agree with this!!!
Speak our language if you are going to Live or work here!!




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110305/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_speak_our_language
FLORENCE, Italy – Svetlana Cojochru feels insulted. The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a nanny to Italian kids and caregiver to the elderly, but in order to stay she's had to prove her language skills by writing a postcard to an imaginary friend and answering a fictional job ad.

"I feel like a guest," said Cojochru. She had just emerged from Beato Angelico middle school where she took a language test to comply with a new law requiring basic Italian proficiency for permanent residency permits following five years of legal residence.

 

[Doppel]

Is the average person capable of learning Italian to a proficient level within 5 years? I bet they are. So, in that case, yes this sounds certainly reasonable to me.

 

[KlokWyze]

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

[Infohawk]

Outrageous! Where will they draw the line? Demanding that people make a good faith effort to adopt culture?

 

[ForumMaster]

Wah wah wah. The amount of time that woman spend whining as probably greater then the amount of time it took her to complete the test.

If she has spent 7 years in Italy, she should be proficient in Italian. Nothing wrong with this logical request.

 

[manimal]

fa i fatti tuoi.....

 

[PhoKingGuy]

If she has spent 7 years in Italy, she should be proficient in Italian. Nothing wrong with this logical request.

I take it you aren't from a border state. lol

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I don't see why language skills are necessary to work in a country. There are lots of Chinese and Koreans here, who don't speak a word of English, yet they still get along fine.

 

[manimal]

Its much harder for adults to learn a new language than say a child-teenager. If you make a rule like this then you have to offer language classes to the poor as well since not doing so would be widely considered class warfare.


I am not advocating either position since the discussion alone will inevitably lead to bigger government.They could have made it more palatable by excluding people already in the country.

 

[theevilsharpie]

If you make a rule like this then you have to offer language classes to the poor as well since not doing so would be widely considered class warfare.

Class warfare? Lulz.

 

[Infohawk]

Its much harder for adults to learn a new language than say a child-teenager. If you make a rule like this then you have to offer language classes to the poor as well since not doing so would be widely considered class warfare.


I am not advocating either position since the discussion alone will inevitably lead to bigger government.They could have made it more palatable by excluding people already in the country.

Ugh. How would excluding people in the country be palatable? The whole point is for people in Italy to speak Italian. Class warfare? Is it class warfare to require that poor people be clothed in public even though it might be expensive for them to buy clothes? Of course not.

 

[manimal]

Ugh. How would excluding people in the country be palatable? The whole point is for people in Italy to speak Italian. Class warfare? Is it class warfare to require that poor people be clothed in public even though it might be expensive for them to buy clothes? Of course not.

Excluding people who are already in country would make this a gradual transition. Lots of Slavic language immigrants went to italy when I was traveling there often in the 90s for work. My dad retired there as well and is now being cared for by a Slavic immigrant who has been taking language classes for some time. It is very hard for someone to learn a new language without active study. Most of these immigrants are working long hard hours which leave very little time for actively going to school if you have a family or a second job.


I may not have worded my initial response and would have used something other than Class warfare to describe the inevitable outcome.

How long would it take any of you learn a new language?

 

[Infohawk]

Excluding people who are already in country would make this a gradual transition. Lots of Slavic language immigrants went to italy when I was traveling there often in the 90s for work. My dad retired there as well and is now being cared for by a Slavic immigrant who has been taking language classes for some time. It is very hard for someone to learn a new language without active study. Most of these immigrants are working long hard hours which leave very little time for actively going to school if you have a family or a second job.


I may not have worded my initial response and would have used something other than Class warfare to describe the inevitable outcome.

How long would it take any of you learn a new language?

Your concerns are not even relevant. They have FIVE years to learn BASIC Italian. If you had ever lived in another country you would might understand that immersion is the best way to learn a language.

 

[Jaskalas]

Wah wah wah. The amount of time that woman spend whining as probably greater then the amount of time it took her to complete the test.

If she has spent 7 years in Italy, she should be proficient in Italian. Nothing wrong with this logical request.

In mass, a foreign culture may invade and stamp out your own in large enough swaths that they may live their entire lives in your country and know absolutely nothing.

You need not speak Italian if no one else in the ghetto does.

 

[classy]

Sounds reasonable to me.

yep

 

[wuliheron]

Supply and demand baby. Perhaps next they'll limit them to attractive females.... It's not like they're citizens with rights or anything.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Using age as a reason that someone can't learn a second language is total BS. I learned to speak Indonesian at 32 and as other mentioned being immersed into the language and culture is the best way to learn another language. Once you begin thinking in the second language the major portion of the battle has been won.

Granted children/young adults ages 3 to 18 will learn a second language much quicker.