Candidate for Alabama governor Tim James is running ads proclaiming that if he is elected, Alabama will no longer give driver's license exams in any language but English.
"This is Alabama. We speak English," he says in the ad while questioning why the exam is currently given in a dozen different languages. "If you want to live here, learn it. We're only giving that test in English if I'm governor."
Drivers license exams are currently offered in Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese."
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpps/ne...a-we-speak-english-dpgoha-20100428-fc_7281262
While I certainly believe anyone who comes to the US as a long term visitor or resident needs to learn English and use it in daily life (just as I think anyone who goes anywhere for an extended period of time should learn that place's language), I find this a very extreme and unnecessary issue.
The grammatical nuances of the written exam are hard for people who have only ever spoken English. Since one must pass an actual driving test to get a license, I find no safety issue with taking the written exam in a different language - especially since most important traffic signs are graphic. If safety is the real concern, why is he not banning texting and retesting elderly drivers instead of focusing on this language issue?
Replies
46
SoWal Insider
Crazy Politicians! 
Darlene is my middle name, not my nickname
LA to me has always been anywhere South of Montgomery in Alabama. I never referred to the panhandle of Florida as LA. Wow..who knew? I don't care what you call it, I still love it. 
SoWal Guide
LA to me has always been anywhere South of Montgomery in Alabama. I never referred to the panhandle of Florida as LA. Wow..who knew? I don't care what you call it, I still love it.
I didn't know the panhandle was LA or the Redneck Riviera until I moved here. then I heard it referred to as LA many times and after living here a while I knew it was true. In fact, it is the reason I wanted to be here. Being back in the south was what I truly needed, after living in central Florida for several years - which has its southernness as well but not nearly as much.
LA is slang for Florida panhandle but also used to describe southern parts of Alabama such as Mobile.
Edited
SoWal Insider
Destin is home of the Lower Alabama Lounge. 
Beach Lover
Alabama - Love it or Leave it! Sounds like the good old days of George Wallace is making a come back. Don't forget that Tim James is the son of Ala. ex-gov. Fob James.
Beach Lover
SoWal Insider
I guess the positive spin you could put on it is that even though Bama is 47th or 48th in comparative educational standards in the U.S., at least he IS putting an emphasis on learning?
They spell it learnin' in Alabama
Beach Fanatic
Alabama - Love it or Leave it! Sounds like the good old days of George Wallace is making a come back. Don't forget that Tim James is the son of Ala. ex-gov. Fob James.
I remember there was a joke that Fob James got his start going door to door selling cheerios as doughnut seeds!
SoWal ExpertAuthor
I don't know what part of Alabama he is from, but I'm from LA and they don't speak English either.;-)
That was my first thought!
Having lived in and visited countries whose primary language was not English, I have a GREAT appreciation for anything like this offered in a different language..............not to mention how wonderful it is that most of them speak multiple languages so they can talk to "foreigners" like myself!
SoWal Insider
Cheerios = doughnut seeds! :funn:
Banned
Everybody knows that the donut is a dang ROOT!
Beach Fanatic
He is a freakin' racist and I am insulted that he lives in my State.
p.s. Jesse's highest score on his ACT was in English.
I kind of agree with him. Does that make me a racist too?
SoWal Insider
Let's see...the Constitution is written in English, the Declaration of Independence is written in English. Our Congress communicates in English, our Supreme Court writes it's opinion in, you guessed it, English. Our military communicates in English, NASA communicates in English. Everybody I know communicates in English. The Internet seems to be dominated by English. I guess it does seem kinda weird that all states don't give driver's license tests in Ten Different Languages! That only seems reasonable , doesn't it? 
SoWal Insider
I remember there was a joke that Fob James got his start going door to door selling cheerios as doughnut seeds!
and was he successful? I just gotta know.
Admin
I live in FLORIDA!
Beach Fanatic
and was he successful? I just gotta know.
Suspending disbelief for purposes of the joke, yes he was. And in reality, he was a successful businessman and many considered him to be a successful governor.
Edited
SoWal Insider
Let's see...the Constitution is written in English, the Declaration of Independence is written in English. Our Congress communicates in English, our Supreme Court writes it's opinion in, you guessed it, English. Our military communicates in English, NASA communicates in English. Everybody I know communicates in English. The Internet seems to be dominated by English. I guess it does seem kinda weird that all states don't give driver's license tests in Ten Different Languages! That only seems reasonable , doesn't it?
I know - isn't that strange? I can understand Spanish, which is evolving into the next Universal Language, but Farsi?
Beach Fanatic
It would be interesting to know how many foreign countries offer their drivers license exams in all these languages.
Along those same lines, it would be interesting to know how other countries deal with illegal aliens who are found to be working or what happens to those illegals who become seriously ill.
I did a few quick searches but couldn't find much.
Along those same lines, it would be interesting to know how other countries deal with illegal aliens who are found to be working or what happens to those illegals who become seriously ill.
I did a few quick searches but couldn't find much.
Beach Fanatic
In both of his TV ads that I've seen, he takes a long pause and looks at the ground towards the end; here's an extended cut that shows what he's looking at...
YouTube - What is he looking at?
YouTube - What is he looking at?
Banned
Is this english or just southern speak?
A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.
There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.
There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.
If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.
'Onced' and 'Twiced' are words.
It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!
'Jaw-P'? means 'Did ya'll go to the bathroom'?
People actually grow and eat okra.
'Fixinto' is one word. It means 'I'm fixing to do that'.
There is no such thing as 'lunch'.
There is only dinner and then there is supper.
Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar.
Backwards and forwards means 'I know everything about you'.
The word 'jeet' is actually a phrase meaning 'Did you eat?
You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.
You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH 'em.
'No, Jew?' is a common response to the question, 'Did you bring any beer?'
You measure distance in minutes.
You switch from heat to A/C in the same day.
All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.
You know what a 'DAWG' is.
You carry jumper cables in your car - for your OWN car.
You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Tony's, Tabasco and ketchup.
The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports and motor sports, and gossip.
You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.
You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit 'a bit warm'..
You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.
Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime known as 'goin' Wal-Martin' or 'off to Wally World'.
You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good chicken stew weather.
Fried catfish is the other white meat.
We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive dag-nabbit.
You understand these jokes and forward them to your Southern friends and those who just wish they were from the SOUTH..
A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.
There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 of them live in the South.
There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 of them live in the South, plus a couple no one's seen before.
If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.
'Onced' and 'Twiced' are words.
It is not a shopping cart, it is a buggy!
'Jaw-P'? means 'Did ya'll go to the bathroom'?
People actually grow and eat okra.
'Fixinto' is one word. It means 'I'm fixing to do that'.
There is no such thing as 'lunch'.
There is only dinner and then there is supper.
Iced tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar.
Backwards and forwards means 'I know everything about you'.
The word 'jeet' is actually a phrase meaning 'Did you eat?
You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is, you work until you're done or it's too dark to see.
You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH 'em.
'No, Jew?' is a common response to the question, 'Did you bring any beer?'
You measure distance in minutes.
You switch from heat to A/C in the same day.
All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect, or animal.
You know what a 'DAWG' is.
You carry jumper cables in your car - for your OWN car.
You only own five spices: salt, pepper, Tony's, Tabasco and ketchup.
The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but require 6 pages for local high school sports and motor sports, and gossip.
You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.
You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit 'a bit warm'..
You know all four seasons: Almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas.
Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite pastime known as 'goin' Wal-Martin' or 'off to Wally World'.
You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good chicken stew weather.
Fried catfish is the other white meat.
We don't need no dang Driver's Ed. If our mama says we can drive, we can drive dag-nabbit.
You understand these jokes and forward them to your Southern friends and those who just wish they were from the SOUTH..
Beach Lover
Heh heh. What a joke. They don't speak English in Alabama. I've been there.
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