If you have trouble with english, you shouldn’t be able to drive… St signs are in English. When I was a kid, the drivers license test was only available in English… if you couldn’t read it, you couldn’t take it. When my grandfather immigrated to this country in 1918 the Citizenship test was only in English. My grandfather lived on Ellis Island for 6 months learning English so he could take the test and enter the country. It should still be the same.
Some signs can be recognized by shape and color (stop – yield), but some signs are specific (restrictions on parking between certain times) and information signs (example -do not enter if flooded. I agree that it is a dangerous situation if someone is not able to know what signs tell them.
Who said anything about street signs? They are talking about the driving test.
And just remember Dave3278, your grandfather came HERE. Hawaiians were on their own islands, minding their own business when we came along and took over. It is not wrong to accomodate them with their native language in their native land.
Except that the additional languages are for Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and a couple others I can’t remember. Many people immigrate to Hawaii from the Far East and don’t always learn English. Very few Hawaiians actually speak Hawaiian.
Hawaiian is the state language, along with English and there has been a recent push to bring it back. More and more Hawaiians are speaking it now, mostly along with English. But I think there is one island that is predominantly Hawaiian-speaking.
Not sure where you got your information, but I lived there for 14 years and my brother still lives there. Yes, some people speak Hawaiian, but those that are born there and go to school there speak English. The people who don’t speak English are the ones who immigrated to Hawaii. If you’re referring to Niihau, which has a population of less than 200 people, I don’t believe any non-native born people have ever lived there.
Nevertheless, from about 1949 to the present, there has been a gradual increase in attention to, and promotion of, the language. Public Hawaiian-language immersion preschools called Pūnana Leo were started in 1984; other immersion schools followed soon after. The first students to start in immersion preschool have now graduated from college and many are fluent Hawaiian speakers. The federal government acknowledged this development. For example the Hawaiian National Park Language Correction Act of 2000 changed the names of several national parks in Hawaiʻi observing the Hawaiian spelling. – Wikipedia
April 1, 2014 at 4:07 pm
Huh! says:
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It really is time we made English the official language of our country. Those born here should grow up learning English and those who wish to become citizens should also learn English. Having English as our official language does not mean we cannot also learn and use other languages, as many Europeans do, it means we have one language for legal documents, governmental documents, school textbooks, street signs and so on.
What difference does it make? Aren’t we the melting pot? Quit being so arrogant that just because you grew up speaking English, everyone else should too. Why don’t you try learning another language?
I think we should have a standard language (English), while encouraging our citizens to learn other languages. There is nothing wrong with having a national language.
When I was in Spain, I don’t remember seeing any hiway signs in english, but I did recognize shapes and pictures. Isn’t that kind of the way it is here?
If you have trouble with english, you shouldn’t be able to drive… St signs are in English. When I was a kid, the drivers license test was only available in English… if you couldn’t read it, you couldn’t take it. When my grandfather immigrated to this country in 1918 the Citizenship test was only in English. My grandfather lived on Ellis Island for 6 months learning English so he could take the test and enter the country. It should still be the same.
That’s swell; 100 more people out there driving who cannot read the signs. All tests should be in English only.
What a crock….all the road signs are in English. If you can’t speak and read English…WALK, or take THE BUS.
All should be in English only – Voting, driver tests whatever.
Some signs can be recognized by shape and color (stop – yield), but some signs are specific (restrictions on parking between certain times) and information signs (example -do not enter if flooded. I agree that it is a dangerous situation if someone is not able to know what signs tell them.
So, Hawaii has traffic signs in 12 other languages?
Who said anything about street signs? They are talking about the driving test.
And just remember Dave3278, your grandfather came HERE. Hawaiians were on their own islands, minding their own business when we came along and took over. It is not wrong to accomodate them with their native language in their native land.
Except that the additional languages are for Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and a couple others I can’t remember. Many people immigrate to Hawaii from the Far East and don’t always learn English. Very few Hawaiians actually speak Hawaiian.
Hawaiian is the state language, along with English and there has been a recent push to bring it back. More and more Hawaiians are speaking it now, mostly along with English. But I think there is one island that is predominantly Hawaiian-speaking.
Not sure where you got your information, but I lived there for 14 years and my brother still lives there. Yes, some people speak Hawaiian, but those that are born there and go to school there speak English. The people who don’t speak English are the ones who immigrated to Hawaii. If you’re referring to Niihau, which has a population of less than 200 people, I don’t believe any non-native born people have ever lived there.
Nevertheless, from about 1949 to the present, there has been a gradual increase in attention to, and promotion of, the language. Public Hawaiian-language immersion preschools called Pūnana Leo were started in 1984; other immersion schools followed soon after. The first students to start in immersion preschool have now graduated from college and many are fluent Hawaiian speakers. The federal government acknowledged this development. For example the Hawaiian National Park Language Correction Act of 2000 changed the names of several national parks in Hawaiʻi observing the Hawaiian spelling. – Wikipedia
It really is time we made English the official language of our country. Those born here should grow up learning English and those who wish to become citizens should also learn English. Having English as our official language does not mean we cannot also learn and use other languages, as many Europeans do, it means we have one language for legal documents, governmental documents, school textbooks, street signs and so on.
What difference does it make? Aren’t we the melting pot? Quit being so arrogant that just because you grew up speaking English, everyone else should too. Why don’t you try learning another language?
I think we should have a standard language (English), while encouraging our citizens to learn other languages. There is nothing wrong with having a national language.
When I was in Spain, I don’t remember seeing any hiway signs in english, but I did recognize shapes and pictures. Isn’t that kind of the way it is here?
The article is not about street signs. It’s about the driving test.