Maybe all should read

[Dot]

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[T1 Terry]

What about those one's that sort of speak something like English, but call things like thongs jandles or something like that, an esky a culli bun, $6 of fish and chips sends everyone in the shop into hysterical laughter ..... easecially when it's a hardware store .....

Then again, what language do the speak in the UK, some of it could even be basically English, but still impossible to understand ..... then the Scottish start to speak and ya just give up ....
see how you go with this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVW2kZEYx_0&t=480s

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

Dot,

Please remember that my wife is Japanese.

And that you're coming to our place for 4 days in May.

These types of underlying messages really grate with me and makes me wonder why you look so forward to our place at Taggerty.

Maybe you should reconsider??

[Shirley]

Jon, we are a multiracial family, French Melanesian & Chinese daughter in laws, who both can speak several languages & both are Australian citizens, we have 2 Melanesian & 4 Asian/ Aussie grandchildren who can claim to be descendants of a first fleeter.

We are one, we are many, we are all Australian.

[T1 Terry]

I agree with Jon on this one .... should I wait a bit for all to get back on their chairs after falling on the floor?
The Edmund Barton beliefs were probably all well and good for a country just getting itself established in 1907, but, as for a lot of things that are different between then and now, it doesn't fit the Australia of 2026 ..... Can you imagine trying to teach Kiwis to speak Australian, it is different from English and who knows what version of what is spoken in parts of Britain even, could be the base language to be used as English ..... can you even imagine trying to teach someone from the UK to speak the local language .... it takes a while when moving from town to town within Aust to actually fully understand the language.

We all have our own religious belief, unfortunately, a lot of the world's problems could be sorted far quicker if we were to totally ban religion ..... if you want to blend into a new culture, be it within Australia or the world in general, you best learn the language, but if we were to travel anywhere and find a group from the same country, you can be sure we would converse in the language we are most familiar with ..... why would someone who has arrived in a culture and language speaking area that they were still getting the feel for, not want to speak the language they were familiar with when given the opportunity ......

I believe the requirement to be able to speak the language before becoming a citizen is the right one and speaking in a language that those around you cannot understand at all, is the height of rudeness.
Calls to pray, be it in another language or the ringing of bells or annoying talking heads on the TV or radio, I have little tolerance for, stamping out religion in general might be the first steps to world peace ..... but that might be just my opinion ..... and you are welcome to adopt it .... or not ..... we do still live in a mostly free country .....

T1 Terry

[jon_d]

Thank-you Terry.

[T1 Terry]

Thank-you Terry.

You are welcome Jon, as is everyone who wants to make Australia their home. No one is asking anyone to forget where they came from, without that mix, Australia wouldn't be the great place to live that it is .... but why would anyone want to bring the troubles they had left behind, only to bring it here with them.
Even the Kiwis are welcome well, once they learn to speak properly anyway ... although they are funny to listen to but please, can't we be Australian and leave our past prejudices behind, surely we have enough here to go round already

T1 Terry

[Swisslulu]

As someone who moved to a foreign country where I did not speak the language, I totally empathise with foreigners who move to Australia. Whether they are refugees, the spouse of a citizen, or for other legal reason, moving to a foreign country is difficult.

I moved to Switzerland in 1997, our daughter who was not yet 8 also did not speak the language. We were welcomed as Swiss citizens as Erich was Swiss but I can tell you life was not straightforward for Amy and me. I don’t know the circumstances of Jon’s wife’s arrival here but to dismiss the difficulties of establishing oneself in a foreign country is shortsighted. They try to integrate but it can be very difficult and a blunt “well they should be Australian” Is just unreasonable.

[dream4red]

Guess for 1907, that was not a hard thing to say, especially as we had the white Australia policy for so long. It is an interesting starting point for all migrants to make an effort to speak the lingo. Did you all notice that there are different lingoes on each side of the country. I certainly noticed that SA people are less lazy with their speech as those from the East and they had different words for some things too. That would be confuddling for a non English speaker.
I do think that skin colour and religion are always going to be contentious issues. My thinking is that if a person speaks to me kindly, I return the discussion, regardless of their ethnicity, home language and skin colour. Possibly would be harder for our parents generations who fought wars against these people. That is in the past and we have a future to make for ourselves and our amazing country.

[Shirley]

My daughter in laws both had problems with our many, many slang sayings & often asked the meanings, fortunately both of them had learnt the English language at school.

Unfortunately neither of them have tried to teach the g’kids their spoken language, I have a friend who’s son is married to a Japanese girl, they have 2 boys both fluent in Japanese & English.