Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish

Wokamuka

Wokamuka

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It'd be interesting, for me, to see how the Pledge of Allegiance would be recited in Mexican Sign Language and Norwegian Sign Language (not at the same time, of course). Superintendent Fjelstad seems to be in a sympathetic position because of his understanding of the whole picture and family heritage. I think the greatest resistance comes from those who believe that the United States will not be able to absorb the huge onslaught of Spanish-speaking immigrants.

GazetteXtra
Pledge protest planned
By STACY VOGEL ( Contact ) Wednesday, April 23, 2008

EDGERTON — As a veteran, Al Decker said he can’t let slide an incident in which students said the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish at Edgerton High School last month.

Decker will bring six to eight veterans from the VFW and American Legion to Monday’s school board meeting to protest the incident, the Edgerton resident and Army veteran said.

“It’s disrespectful and it’s unpatriotic,” Decker said. “The pledge was designed here in the United States, and it was designed in English, and I believe that’s the way it should be.”

Edgerton High School broadcasts the pledge over the intercom every day, Principal Jim Halberg said. On March 11, he allowed a Spanish class to say the pledge in Spanish.

The decision angered some students and parents.

Todd Dix, a veteran and father of an Edgerton High School senior, told The Janesville Gazette at the time that the action made him sick to his stomach.

But Dix and Halberg have since come to an understanding, they said. Halberg agreed if the school says the pledge in Spanish in the future, it will make sure to include an English version before or after. Dix said he was satisfied with the response.

But Decker and other veterans aren’t satisfied, Decker said.

Veterans put more emphasis on respecting the flag, the pledge and other symbols of the nation than civilians do, he said.

“(Saying the pledge in Spanish) kind of goes against those who have supported their country and have fought for their country and things like that, especially those who have given the ultimate sacrifice,” Decker said.

Superintendent Norm Fjelstad disagreed, noting in a written statement that 110,000 Spanish-speaking troops are serving in the military and 400 have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He wrote that his father couldn’t speak English until third grade and always said the pledge in Norwegian at school, yet he’s proud of his father’s patriotism.

Fjelstad said he has been bombarded by calls from residents and even two radio stations since the incident. People have criticized him while in line to vote and while grocery shopping at Piggly Wiggly, suggesting he fire the teacher or principal who allowed the students to say the pledge in Spanish, he said.

“I am told by several they will be asking for the Edgerton School Board to replace me with an American superintendent and not one that allows students to say the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish,” he wrote.

The veterans won’t ask for anyone to be fired at Monday’s meeting, but they would like a public apology, Decker said.

Fjelstad said the school board has the authority to decide if schools can say the pledge in Spanish, but he defended the high school’s action in his statement.

“A country that prides itself in rights and responsibilities, including the freedom of speech, should never mandate that a pledge or even the national anthem be just one language,” he wrote.

“This is an issue that can only divide our community and sends the wrong message to our students.”
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The outrage is over a Spanish class saying the pledge in Spanish?

Interesting.
 
Nope. The Pledge of Allegiance is to be said in English, not Spanish, not Norwegian, not Polish, not ASL. English. Sorry. Nice try, though. Same with the National Anthem. If you want to sing it over in another country in another language, feel free to do so. But, here in the United States, you do what the Americans do, just like if you're in Rome . . .
 
pek1 said:
Nope. The Pledge of Allegiance is to be said in English, not Spanish, not Norwegian, not Polish, not ASL. English. Sorry. Nice try, though. Same with the National Anthem. If you want to sing it over in another country in another language, feel free to do so. But, here in the United States, you do what the Americans do, just like if you're in Rome . . .
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Excuse me?
 
pek1 said:
Nope. The Pledge of Allegiance is to be said in English, not Spanish, not Norwegian, not Polish, not ASL. English. Sorry. Nice try, though. Same with the National Anthem. If you want to sing it over in another country in another language, feel free to do so. But, here in the United States, you do what the Americans do, just like if you're in Rome . . .
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Nice try.

The United States doesn't have an "official" language.
 
But it is the official language in at least 28 states....
 
pek1 said:
Nope. The Pledge of Allegiance is to be said in English, not Spanish, not Norwegian, not Polish, not ASL. English. Sorry. Nice try, though. Same with the National Anthem. If you want to sing it over in another country in another language, feel free to do so. But, here in the United States, you do what the Americans do, just like if you're in Rome . . .
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I guess that goes for ASL too as well since it isn't English. It's funny how "patriotic" some people can get considering how old the pledge is. In fact, it didn't have "Under God" in it until the 1950s in order to "counterattack" the communists. Heck, your forefathers didn't recite the pledge back then because it didn't exist.

Yet it is so "sacred." You people are funny sometimes about English and foreign languages.

One should also note that the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a Christian Socialist. Yes... a socialist! (gasp) Oh the horrors!

For years, Gale Elementary School teacher Anne Lee has had her students recite the pledge in three languages — English, Spanish and American Sign Language — as a learning exercise. The kids start with English.
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TUSD faces Pledge of Allegiance furor | www.azstarnet.com ®
 
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America . . ."

Who cares what language they do it in . . . it's still a pledge to the flag of the United States of America!

Que?
 
Banjo said:
You people are funny sometimes about English and foreign languages.
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Banjo, I thinks it's clear in this thread the "you people" is one person. At any rate, the pledge has been said in many ways in my lifetime. In my own Montana grade school, we learned to recite it in Norwegian when a new girl arrived from there, and the same in German for two new boys. In scouts we sent it in Morse Code and semaphore (my arms still ache). The Pledge of Allegiance is a double-page spread in Signing Exact English which I've seen used in two Oregon schools.

As for funny about the differences in U.K. and U.S. syntax, that's a result of the strained history of the language in the 1700s when English was still in chaos everywhere.

And Canadians don't have patriotic moments? For many, many years I lived 36 miles south of the border and can tell you differently.
 
Chase said:
Banjo, I thinks it's clear in this thread the "you people" is one person. At any rate, the pledge has been said in many ways in my lifetime. In my own Montana grade school, we learned to recite it in Norwegian when a new girl arrived from there, and the same in German for two new boys. In scouts we sent it in Morse Code and semaphore (my arms still ache). The Pledge of Allegiance is a double-page spread in Signing Exact English which I've seen used in two Oregon schools.

As for funny about the differences in U.K. and U.S. syntax, that's a result of the strained history of the language in the 1700s when English was still in chaos everywhere.

And Canadians don't have patriotic moments? For many, many years I lived 36 miles south of the border and can tell you differently.
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Especially when it involves beer.
 
Chase said:
Banjo, I thinks it's clear in this thread the "you people" is one person. At any rate, the pledge has been said in many ways in my lifetime. In my own Montana grade school, we learned to recite it in Norwegian when a new girl arrived from there, and the same in German for two new boys. In scouts we sent it in Morse Code and semaphore (my arms still ache). The Pledge of Allegiance is a double-page spread in Signing Exact English which I've seen used in two Oregon schools.

As for funny about the differences in U.K. and U.S. syntax, that's a result of the strained history of the language in the 1700s when English was still in chaos everywhere.

And Canadians don't have patriotic moments? For many, many years I lived 36 miles south of the border and can tell you differently.
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When I said "you people", I meant people who like to throw up a fit over foreign languages being spoken in their countries. Some Canadians will throw a fit when someone speaks French even though it is an official language in Canada. I think some people are just a little too passionate about English sometimes. Just a tad.

I live close by the USA too as well. I can reach Niagara Falls, NY by a merely distance of 12 miles.

We do get patriotic, but we are not very passionate when it comes to politics. I would say that we are mostly patriotic when it comes to celebrating diversity and freedom of choices we can make in our lives.
 
Banjo said:
When I said "you people", I meant people who like to throw up a fit over foreign languages being spoken in their countries. . . . I would say that we are mostly patriotic when it comes to celebrating diversity and freedom of choices we can make in our lives.
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Glad that's your meaning. Thought so. Here in the "Melting Pot," diversity and personal freedom of choice is mostly the patriotism of our silent majority, too. We just "hear" the more vocal minority.

Even embracing diversity, I'm still a crusader for more understandable English, rather than the opposite.

Nothing wrong with hockey, as I learned to skate and high-stick while learning to walk. Ha ha ha, it's the love of curling I don't understand.
 
Chase said:
Even embracing diversity, I'm still a crusader for more understandable English, rather than the opposite.
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Oh, I completely agree. I read somewhere that the national average is at 5th grade level. It's a pity how the public education is going down the toilet. Parents are also responsible for their children's literacy skills.
 
Texan Guy said:
It should be in English or SEE, period.
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SEE? Oh please.

ASL is a real language and it is an American language. That's why it is called "American Sign Language."

Have you ever seen the Pledge of Allegiance in ASL? Much more exciting and patriotic compared to the boring SEE version.
 
Banjo said:
SEE? Oh please.

ASL is a real language and it is an American language. That's why it is called "American Sign Language."

Have you ever seen the Pledge of Allegiance in ASL? Much more exciting and patriotic compared to the boring SEE version.
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Yup, I use ASL to pledge the US flag.
 
My students and I say it in ASL daily and damned if anyone is gonna tell us otherwise.
 
Banjo said:
Oh, I completely agree. I read somewhere that the national average is at 5th grade level. It's a pity how the public education is going down the toilet. Parents are also responsible for their children's literacy skills.
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You read correctly. I like to mention that fact when people talk about deaf students from deaf schools not reading above a 4th grade level. Hearing students aren't doing a heck of a lot better. Sadly. Maybe we should have them reading the Pledge instead of reciting it. Improve their literacy.
 
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