"You have to be sensible here. Welcome everyone, but everyone has to be responsible and willing to put some hard work in to make everything work well. "

I think the examples that Bill D gave, M.Ted and myself show that these people are responsible and willing to work hard to make things work - language is not necessarily the first priority or the barometer of their intentions.

I'm reading a lot of generatlizations that are perpetuated by ignorance of the fact. You make an assumption that someone is lazy or unwilling to learn a language, yet you do not know if they have tried, are in the process of learning, or simply afraid to speak.

My daughter dated a young man from Peru.   Around my wife and I, he would only speak in short bursts - yes, no, thank you. One day I overheard him chatting with her, and his English was flawless. His intimidation with adults led him to hide his own speech.   Probably because he has heard the insults and impatience that others have directed toward him - feeling that he was stupid because English is not his first language. A real shame because he is very intelligent and has a lot to offer.

The other issue is - where and how do they learn?   Learn it on the street corner? Schools? Who pays? Would you volunteer to help?

Sure, those 5 minutes at Burger King is time from my life that I will never get back. At the same time, I learned something, and I would rather spend 5 minutes in a civil discussion rather than loose something that I cherish.

"a refusal to join the society I'd come to live amongst" - How many of us feel that we march to the beat of a different drummer? How you choose to live your life is your own choice.