Need to Speak English for Green Card

It was a Saturday night in Naples, an upscale coastal town in Southwest Florida. As the clock neared 10 PM, Brazilian born Flavia asked the checkout people in English at the Super Wal-Mart she was in, if they were closing. There answer was Yes!

Flavia phoned her husband, waiting in their car with a new miniature schnauzer, and told him she could no longer buy the dog crate they so needed because the store was closing now. Her husband suggested asking a manager if she could slip in and rush to buy the crate. Flavia did - and the American worker wondered why she was in such a rush?

Turns out Super Wal-Mart, Naples, does not close at 10 PM in this town. It's open 24/7.

The fact is that the majority of the check-out clerks don't speak English - at least enough to let someone know if the store is closing.

It gets worse.

Flavia bought the wrong size crate, so her husband returned to the Super Wal-Mart, now knowing they were open all night, and at midnight found their Customer Service office closed. However, a checkout clerk motioned for him to talk to workers that were sorting through 20 or 30 shopping carts. A supervisor came to the husband and told him he'd have to get in the very long check out line because Customer Service was closed. That was fine.

The husband went to the pet area down near the Garden Center and got the correct size dog crate. On the way back to the check out area, he stopped a Wal-Mart employee in cosmetics and asked where the toilet paper was. They needed some at home. To his amusement, the employee at first looked puzzled, at the English, and then asked in broken English, "what for?"

Ok, off to find someone who speaks English at the Super Wal-Mart in Naples, Florida.

Finally in the check out lane, the husband explains - look - the big one, I am returning, ok? Yes, the clerk says with a Spanish accent. She proceeds to scan the large return. Then, the husband hands her the receipt so she can process the return.

Have you seen those Visa commercials on TV where everything is flowing nicely until someone tries to use cash? That's the exact scene here. Very puzzled, the clerk asks what the receipt is for. The clerk did not speak any English at all - except the "ok". She then called the same manager as before and out the store the husband went.

Do you need to be able to speak English in order to have a Green Card in America? Apparently not. Should you have to? Americans say YES!

Here's the thing - take most populations and when they come to America, only the wise seek out how to speak English properly. Then those who learn English, like Flavia, are tagged by the majority who don't, to help. For example, Flavia was telling us, a group of Brazilians in the Dallas/Fort Worth area have only a handful that actually speak English. The rest, some here for as long as 15 years - DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH!

Americans, for the most part, learn the language of the country they are going to live. They seek out to learn the customs of these countries. All they are asking is that immigrants do the same to preserve the American Heritage.

For that reason, it will become harder and harder for immigrants to gain Green Cards. Speaking English will certainly help. Americans want you to speak their language if you are going to live in their country. You'd expect the same in your home country, no?

No, you don't need to speak English to get a Green Card, but it certainly doesn't hurt.