English Test for UK Immigrants?

Hello everybody,

Do you know David Blunkett? Well, he a PM - Member of the British Parliamant and he says that immigrants who want to become British cintizens «have to demonstrate a defined minimum standard of English».
What do you think of the questions related to immigration? Shall immigrants learn the language of the new country they live in? Do you think they should take a language proficiency test? What is your idea of integration? This could become an interesting debate…[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Chefs in a kitchen[YSaerTTEW443543]

hello torsten,

immigration is both a very valuble and a difficult thing.
immigrants are useful, many western countries suffer from becoming older and older looking at how the age groups in their origin population develops and that causes many problems.

how to solve retiring problems if there’re just a few left who should pay for all the retired?
how to solve problems concerning medical care because life expectancy can be watched rising and rising (if you’re getting older and older you may need more and more special medical treatment and that’s again more expensive) ?

and so on …

Hi Naufragis,

Many thanks for responding so promptly. At this point I’d like to collect as many different opinions here on the forum as possible to raise awareness of this sensitive topic. Your entry shows that you analyse what is going on around you and this will trigger more ideas.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A helicopter[YSaerTTEW443543]

in order to answer you former question about testing language skills before getting permission to entry:

a good point to vote YES for such a kind of test is to restrict the masses who are just looking for doing better in material affairs because often they seem to organize themselves in closed areas
and that’s obvious and clear not a thing to strive for because exchange between the cultures is not only more effective but also
better for social managing.
many children of immigrants are the “black sheep” in advance without commiting any crime, they are suspected to do so just because their language isn’t on one feet-level with the others.

If you are incessantly observated in expectation of commiting something strange then you might start feeling seperated …
but if there’s no power or authority which is interested in getting them involved, f.e. by providing language courses, it’s quite a incomprehensible thing to believe you’re welcome.

so what? sounds like a blind alley?
unfortunatly a lot of western people have stupid opinions, such as “they steal our jobs from us” but don’t understand how important immigrants are just to name an example by paying taxes which again are absolutely necessary to provide medical care for the older ones…

torsten,

i’d like to give you my favorite saying just to indicate what I’m up to: …

sleep tight and don’t let the bedbocks bite!

Hi Naufragis,

You have used an interesting saying — «Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite». Maybe, we should give some futher explanation: As you know «bedbugs» are little bloodsuckers also called «redcoats» that suck three times their body weight from humans. So, you use this saying especially with children to make sure they sleep well.
When I first read your post I tried to figure out the link between the bedbug idiom and our discussion about immigration and integration and after a while I realized there was none ;-)[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A firemen[YSaerTTEW443543]

your question was if immigrants should learn the language of the country and my answer is yes that’s the minium they should do: learn the language. Many people come to a country and think they don’t have to adapt that’s not good.

Hello! Torsten, Frank U, Naufragis are you immigrants?
I would be interesting to know. All are very very clever to decide what must immigrants to do.

hello,
so as to me I’m not. but my parents were in a certain manner.

Hi Pressman,

You certainly will agree all of us here on the forum have more in common than what sets us apart. We all try to communicate in another language than our mother tongue which means we we are willing to change our habits and I this is where I can see a link to immigration and integration. What about you, are you living a «new» country?[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Shopping in the market[YSaerTTEW443543]

I live in a “new” country and I am happy. I want to add Language is not problem.

dear torsten,

is it typo or beer? please help me.
on the other hand - as far as I can understand you - I do agree to your reply above.
it’s quite hard to get your feet on a foreign ground…

Naufragis,

Yes I made two typos - thanks for pointing out. Let’s see what your friend pressman and the other members are going to say about integration and immigration…[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: At the cash register[YSaerTTEW443543]

sorry torsten,

I wasn’t up to blame you.
but sometimes it’s difficult to follow a sentence if there’s something missed.

maybe pressman would like to tell us where he or she is from?
and which country he or she has choosen to live in and why…?

Hi Naufragis,

It’s very good when you point out things that have to be straightened out or clarified because after all we are here to practise and improve our English when words are missing it’s hard to follow, so thanks again.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: Walking on the street[YSaerTTEW443543]

hi again,

isn’t it also a significant thing to problems with integration: misunderstanding, misalignment, misinterpretation …?

Naufragis,

I think I know what you mean and we talk about it. In addition these keywords could be useful: diversity, tolerance, unification, progress, social awareness.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: A crowded room[YSaerTTEW443543]

torsten,

your keyword examples sound more optimistic. :smiley:

my plans about studying in glasgow are also like immigration for time - so I will have to deal with challange concerning language and habits …

so,

have you ever been in the U.K. for a longer time?

could you tell me about absolute “don’ts” , things you better do not …, please?
It’s clear, I also would like to know about “dos”.
what’s common there?

many thanks.

Hi Naufragis,

When you go to the UK you travel within an EU country and you will find that the best you can do is be open to everything you experience. You will find that people in the UK pretty much have the same purposes in life as anywhere in the world, it’s the small things that make the difference. British people tend to address you by your first name, they start the working day a little later than is common in Germany, they usually do more social talk than the Germans and they definitely laugh and smile more. There is a lot of those small differences and we should talk about them one at a time…[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, photographs: An outdoor scene[YSaerTTEW443543]