UK Census form available in 55+ languages!

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Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 5,196

I was amazed to see that the census form is available in so many languages.....no wonder we have run out of money! Are any other countries like ours catering for so many languages?

Original post

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

I was amazed to see that the census form is available in so many languages.....no wonder we have run out of money! Are any other countries like ours catering for so many languages?

I doub't it very much at £500.000.000 a throw!!

Lincoln .7

Member for

14 years 5 months

Posts: 4,956

Ludicrous. Everyone who wants to live here should learn the language.:(

Member for

19 years 2 months

Posts: 5,196

I agree, and this is what 99% of the people in the UK say...but no politician listens....I wish we were like the Aussies! (Sometimes)

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

Ludicrous. Everyone who wants to live here should learn the language.:(

Altogether now................................WHEN IN ROME, etc and for the umpteenth time PLEASE KEEP IN TUNE!!

Lincoln. 7

:diablo:

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

Ludicrous. Everyone who wants to live here should learn the language.:(

With all the different Nationalities living here, exactly who should be learning whoes language Pete.?.:confused:

Lincoln .7

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,536

as much as i agree with the 'when in Rome...' stuff, but did the Brits learn Hindi, Afrikans etc. when they went marching in for their afternoon tea and biscuits a fair few years ago? :rolleyes:

Just saying..... :cool:

Member for

13 years 11 months

Posts: 1,335

99% of the people i know have thrown the senseless in the bin

the people who live here legaly have more than enough usefull information about them on government files anyway

the ones they want to find out about will not fill it in anyway

and with governments fully admitting they have lost rack of immigration

can they realy be trusted with any form of population counting !!

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

I was amazed to see that the census form is available in so many languages.....no wonder we have run out of money! Are any other countries like ours catering for so many languages?

And don't forget, it's not just the Census forms, just think of Hospitals, Doctors surgeries, dentists, in fact the list is endless, and they ALL have to be catered for.In fact the only things I can think of that are not in dozens of different languages are our local Chinese, Indian and other foreign takeaways, which it would appear some time ago in one of the National broadsheets to be the most highly saturated town in England re foreign takeaways, and restaurants.But the menues are in English only!!.

Lincoln .7

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

as much as i agree with the 'when in Rome...' stuff, but did the Brits learn Hindi, Afrikans etc. when they went marching in for their afternoon tea and biscuits a fair few years ago? :rolleyes:

Just saying..... :cool:

I would like to think we BRITS have come a long way since the days you refer to have long since been confined to the History books.We are, I would like to think more civilised to other countrymen.
And we cannot be all that bad, as I see your bunking down in Cardiff.

Lincoln .7 :rolleyes:

Member for

13 years 11 months

Posts: 1,335

And don't forget, it's not just the Census forms, just think of Hospitals, Doctors surgeries, dentists, in fact the list is endless, and they ALL have to be catered for.In fact the only things I can think of that are not in dozens of different languages are our local Chinese, Indian and other foreign takeaways, which it would appear some time ago in one of the National broadsheets to be the most highly saturated town in England re foreign takeaways, and restaurants.But the menues are in English only!!.

Lincoln .7

i'll never forget sitting in council training about ten years ago

a council big wig insisted that our biggest immigrant section was italians

i fully remember sniggering and muttering LANGUAGE

it was later found out that many other nationalitys were giving their nationality as italian

but even all those groups combined could nowhere near compare with pakistanis

i often wonder where council officials live and if they actualy hang around in real british areas with real british people !!

Member for

15 years

Posts: 1,549

I live next door to a Muslim family,originally from Pakistan,who are the best neighbours I could wish for.
This is only possible because all the family speak English well. If they hadn't made the effort to learn it,I wouldn't know what a nice family they are.I'm arranging a kind of street party for our close on the day of the Royal wedding,and they're fully involved.
If I decided I'd had enough of this country and was off to make myself a new life in,say,Kyrgyzstan ( not likely,since I can't even pronounce it,let alone point to it on a map ),I wouldn't go expecting the Kyrgyzstani government to translate anything into English for my benefit.
Surely if anyone plans to settle in a country for any length of time,it's in their own interest to learn the language of that country ?
Or maybe I should start swotting up on the 94 different first languages of schoolchildren in my town ?

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

I live next door to a Muslim family,originally from Pakistan,who are the best neighbours I could wish for.
This is only possible because all the family speak English well. If they hadn't made the effort to learn it,I wouldn't know what a nice family they are.I'm arranging a kind of street party for our close on the day of the Royal wedding,and they're fully involved.
If I decided I'd had enough of this country and was off to make myself a new life in,say,Kyrgyzstan ( not likely,since I can't even pronounce it,let alone point to it on a map ),I wouldn't go expecting the Kyrgyzstani government to translate anything into English for my benefit.
Surely if anyone plans to settle in a country for any length of time,it's in their own interest to learn the language of that country ?
Or maybe I should start swotting up on the 94 different first languages of schoolchildren in my town ?

Anne. Nail/head, all in a nutshell, exactly the point I was trying to hammer home.:)

Lincoln .7
:diablo:

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

99% of the people i know have thrown the senseless in the bin

Let's hope they ALL receive the maximum fine for so doing then. It might recoup a bit of the money spent.

Regards,,

kev35

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 7,536

I would like to think we BRITS have come a long way since the days you refer to have long since been confined to the History books.We are, I would like to think more civilised to other countrymen.
And we cannot be all that bad, as I see your bunking down in Cardiff.

Lincoln .7 :rolleyes:

woa woa....never said the Brits were bad! It was just a slight jab.

and it's you're not your. Funny in the context of this thread, yes? :D

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

Let's hope they ALL receive the maximum fine for so doing then. It might recoup a bit of the money spent.

Regards,,

kev35

Kev. I think we both know where Tornado 64 is coming from. I doubt if there are any folks who have been born here, whatever Nationality they are, since the computer was invented not known in every detail by any Government dept at the press of a button.

I cannot, I.M.H.O see any point in a Census, unless we include all that we know are living here but have no idea as to who they are,their nationality,WHERE they are etc, and whilst I am not going to bring up that old Horse Chestnut again, I guess you know what I mean.

Lincoln .7

Member for

13 years 9 months

Posts: 8,306

woa woa....never said the Brits were bad! It was just a slight jab.

and it's you're not your. Funny in the context of this thread, yes? :D

Never mind about my spelling, at least you understood what I meant, and thats the general idea of a discussion/debate.Not nit picking.

Lincoln .7

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

Personally I have no wish to know where tornado 64 'is coming from.' I suspect it's a bit of an inhospitable place for anyone harbouring any humanity or compassion.

Regards,

kev35

Member for

19 years 11 months

Posts: 10,160

99% of the people i know have thrown the senseless in the bin
Then 99% of the people you know are looking at a potential £1000 fine.

i'll never forget sitting in council training about ten years ago

a council big wig insisted that our biggest immigrant section was italians

i fully remember sniggering and muttering LANGUAGE

it was later found out that many other nationalitys were giving their nationality as italian

but even all those groups combined could nowhere near compare with pakistanis

i often wonder where council officials live and if they actualy hang around in real british areas with real british people !!


You'll have some kind of evidence for this charming little anecdote, of course.

Care to share it with the rest of us?

Member for

19 years 11 months

Posts: 10,160

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GA

Member for

19 years 11 months

Posts: 10,160

Altogether now................................WHEN IN ROME, etc and for the umpteenth time PLEASE KEEP IN TUNE!!

Presumably you feel the same way about Brit expats who buy homes in Spain, France and Italy and resolutely refuse to learn the local lingo and expect all the local tradesmen, etc, to speak English?

Don't tell me they don't exist. I work with two of them. :p