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Italy makes immigrants speak Italian for work visa
Washington Post ^ | March 5, 2011 | By FRANCES D'EMILIO

Posted on 03/05/2011 10:36:48 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

FLORENCE, Italy -- Svetlana Cojochru feels insulted. The Moldovan has lived here seven years as a nanny to Italian kids and caregiver to the elderly, but in order to stay she's had to prove her language skills by writing a postcard to an imaginary friend and answering a fictional job ad.

"I feel like a guest," said Cojochru. She had just emerged from Beato Angelico middle school where she took a language test to comply with a new law.

Italy is the latest Western European country turning the screws on an expanding immigrant population by demanding language skills in exchange for work permits, or in some cases, citizenship.

In Austria, terms are tougher. There, where native speakers have been sometimes known to scold immigrant parents for not speaking proper German to their children, foreigners from outside the European Union need to prove they speak basic German within five years of receiving their first residency permit. Failure to do so can bring fines and jeopardize their right to stay.

Terrorism pushed Britain to start strictly enforcing a requirement for English-language competency for prospective citizens. Three of the 2005 London suicide bombers were native Britons of Pakistani descent while the fourth was born in Jamaica.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: immigration; italy
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1 posted on 03/05/2011 10:36:53 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
If I were to move to another country (which I never will) I would learn the language, etc. as quickly as possible.

Period.

2 posted on 03/05/2011 10:40:58 AM PST by He Rides A White Horse (unite)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Oh, wow, not a whole postcard!!! And one question!!! That’s sooo over the top!!! Geez, the nerve!!!

/s


3 posted on 03/05/2011 10:41:31 AM PST by bgill (Kenyan Parliament - how could a man born in Kenya who is not even a native American become the POTUS)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I never thought I would say this, but it seems that Europeans are becoming more conservative than Americans in many areas. Anybody else see this trend?


4 posted on 03/05/2011 10:43:22 AM PST by He Rides A White Horse (unite)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

“I feel like a guest,” said Cojochru

well, you ARE a guest, so your feeling are just about right


5 posted on 03/05/2011 10:47:12 AM PST by mewykwistmas ("Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times")
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To: He Rides A White Horse

“I never thought I would say this, but it seems that Europeans are becoming more conservative than Americans in many areas. Anybody else see this trend?”

They are 20 years too late. Imagine if Brooklyn was Little Arabia and NYC cops couldn’t go in. That’s a reality in many European cities


6 posted on 03/05/2011 10:53:44 AM PST by mewykwistmas ("Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times")
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To: He Rides A White Horse
We need that here, too.


7 posted on 03/05/2011 10:56:12 AM PST by Emperor Palpatine (Tosca, mi fai dimenticare Iddio!!!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
But many immigrants say they'll be rejected no matter how hard they try to fit in.

Cojochru, the Moldovan nanny and caregiver, hoped obtaining permanent residence would help her bring her two teen children to Italy; they live with her sister in Moldova, where wages are among the lowest in Europe. She was skeptical that the language requirement would encourage integration.

Italians always "see me as a foreigner," an outsider, despite her years in the country and despite her flawless command of the local language, she said.

Lady, you ARE a foreigner. If you truly want to become an Italian, it's not too much to ask that you show you know the language.

8 posted on 03/05/2011 10:56:49 AM PST by Huntress ("Politicians exploit economic illiteracy." --Walter Williams)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Well, Svetlana - you *are* a guest.


9 posted on 03/05/2011 10:59:38 AM PST by Hardraade (I want gigaton warheads now!!)
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To: mewykwistmas
Yes, Europe is in deep.

I was watching TV or reading an article and I thought that some European countries actually have 'exclusion zones'. The gist was that if you entered these areas, you do so at your own peril. I believe they stated that these were areas with large Muslim populations.

Have you heard that by any chance?

10 posted on 03/05/2011 11:00:39 AM PST by He Rides A White Horse (unite)
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To: Emperor Palpatine

The Dark Side shrounds everything. Hard to see, the future is.


11 posted on 03/05/2011 11:04:00 AM PST by He Rides A White Horse (unite)
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To: He Rides A White Horse
You ask far too much. Isn't it easier for the immigrant for you to learn his language? After all, in a multicultural society if you manage to communicate with others you might conspire and overthrow the oligarchy.

In my view they don't go far enough. It's time for mass expulsion and making it illegal to have newspapers and tv and radio stations in other languages polluting our airwaves.. The left wing oligarchy wants division so they can makes us all different interest groups they can manipulate. Time to put an end to the scam.

12 posted on 03/05/2011 11:04:18 AM PST by Cacique (quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat ( Islamia Delenda Est ))
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To: Cacique
Time to put an end to the scam.

Sign me up. Be sure my signature is large enough so that King 0bama will not need his spectacles.

13 posted on 03/05/2011 11:11:03 AM PST by He Rides A White Horse (unite)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

The Paesans know how to do it.


14 posted on 03/05/2011 11:13:14 AM PST by Rappini (Pro Deo et Patria)
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To: He Rides A White Horse

“Svetlana Cojochru,,,from Moldova”.

Im already betting she is so smoking hot it’s retarded. If im right, she should flee to my place immediately and request political asylum.
She can speak her native language to me in the jaccuzzi.

We’ll be so happy.


15 posted on 03/05/2011 11:14:03 AM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Disregard,, “two teen kids”.

Sorry,,, DR airlines has *severe* baggage restrictions.


16 posted on 03/05/2011 11:17:27 AM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office)
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To: DesertRhino
Hey DesertRhino, How are ya?

Hey, you have to let me in on what is amazing deductive reasoning. Please?

17 posted on 03/05/2011 11:21:04 AM PST by He Rides A White Horse (unite)
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To: He Rides A White Horse

We have exclusion zones in the United States. Take for instance, southern New Mexico and southern Arizona. The government has even done to the extent to post signs warning people from hiking or camping in these areas. The illegals and drug runners have taken over these areas and it’s pretty sure you will be killed or kidnapped if you wander into what I call “Northern Mexico”.


18 posted on 03/05/2011 11:22:58 AM PST by Nitehawk0325 (I have the right to remain silent, but I lack the ability...........)
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To: He Rides A White Horse

Im great,,,but i think it’s like an old Harley ad several years ago,,
“if i have to explain, you probably wouldn’t understand”.


19 posted on 03/05/2011 11:25:33 AM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office)
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To: Nitehawk0325
The illegals and drug runners have taken over these areas and it’s pretty sure you will be killed or kidnapped if you wander into what I call “Northern Mexico”.

You are 100% correct. "Northern Mexico', "Atzlan", what's the difference.

20 posted on 03/05/2011 11:26:32 AM PST by He Rides A White Horse (unite)
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