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English as the official language of the United States
Posted by PureCommonSense • 5 days ago • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: immigration, language, politics
The United States is different from other countries in not having its own official national language. The widespread use of Spanish, among other languages, is reflected by the government in offering bilingual documents, even to prospective citizens. Isn't it better to just quit holding the hands of every new immigrant and saying that if they want to join our culture, they should learn our language?
purecommonsense.net/2009/11/15/time-to-make-english-our-official-language/
User Comments
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Well, I think it's fair to give new immigrants the chance to understand the way things work in their own language. I don't see that as hand-holding, just good common sense.
In reality most immigrants have to learn the tongue of their adopted country in order to move ahead in their lives, and that also is probably not a bad thing.
In Canada we have two official languages and in the area I live we have a chronic shortage of people, so have had a pretty progressive immigration policy that has seen the private and public sector co-operate activities to help recruited foreign workers integrate and yes, that includes first points of contact and information in their native languages.
Having a little respect pays off in the long run believe me! -
i don't see that much of "bilingual documents."
try finding an MSDS sheet in Russian
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First you state that we don't have an official language, then you say that we should quit holding their hands and have them learn our language. Which one is it? Do we have a language or not? Shouldn't we first make it a point for all americans to understand logic? -
I think he is making a case for an official language. I would never dream of immigrating to France and then joining with a bunch of American emigres and start demanding that the driving test be offered in English. Having moved there voluntarily I think I would have expected to learn enough French to function. How arrogant it would it be to expect otherwise.
Multi-culturism is enjoyable but it is unrealistic to have government documents in a couple of other languages than English. If one language group is entitled to a translation, why not all? Obviously that would be cumbersome and downright silly. The fairest thing is for government documents to be in one language only.
This is coming from someone who loves living in a bilingual/anglo/latin atmosphere here in Florida. In my household we play and work in both languages. I am also an absolute admirer of French language, culture and gastronomy. There is no xenophobia in my position, just logic and rationality.-
Truthfully, most people here have some grasp of English. I speak to many people whose first language is one other than english and even though they may say they don't speak English, they usually understand what you are saying and can communicate with you no matter how difficult it may be for them.
I also don't mind the fact that it is almost becoming a necessity to speak another language here in the states. Most people from other countries can speak more than one language anyways, and we are lagging behind.
We also don't have an official language because unless native american, we are all the sons and daughters of immigrants or immigrants ourselves. That's what makes us unique and makes our country unique. Why should we become rigid? Shouldn't we be the most flexible and tolerant?
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I think they should be able to speak english but you have to give them a little time. I go to the government offices and web sites and they are all available in Spanish and every other language available. They even offer people to help you in that launguage. I call the bank andthey ask me if I am speaking english to press one so I figure they offer other languages too. -
Which is :-)??? -
Ok, most seriously:
When I came to the US, I hade some basis in english that I learned at school. Fortunatly for me because even though you can find most of the document in different languages, you have to look for them.
But I was very appreciative of the american system, and all the bridges in the system to allow immigrants to "get the american culture" very fast, and with no prejudice.
I was appreciative and felt in this system the youth of America...in a few words, what makes America "America" for people outside the US.
Of course in Europe before you can get to pass your driving lesson in another language, you will have to wait for a long time. And this is one of the reason why Europe is called "Old Europe". -
Our Prime Minister has reached the same conclusion in relation to being British. -
The question is not one of being rigid. But if the government offers one foreign language it would only be fair if it offered them all. That is unpractical. It also unnecessary. I advocate all the multi-culturalism and multi-linguism you want, just not from the government. We could become hopelessly and needlessly mired in translation mania. By the way, the choices from the bank are usually just English or Spanish.
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I didn't know the government offered more than one language. It is my understanding that you must pass an oral and written test in english to become a citizen. That's pretty much defacto national language if you ask me. Also, in school kids are required to have their education in English. They take ESL classes to catch up. I've gone to school with kids who didn't speak a lick of english and now they only know English and can't even speak their native tongue now. All this paranoia about translation mayhem, you cannot be serious. This country systematically converts people to English speakers. The reason why we are having to learn other languages is to tap into our rich immigrant population. Hell, if we want to solve this language problem all we have to do is deport them all. We already know that if you are a citizen you will be required to know English so that takes care of it.
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It all depends on what the definition of is is.-
Well I know what the definitions of "is" are not.
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I will never understand why the same people scream bloody murder about "nationalizing" banks, always want to nationalize language and culture
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I always put my money in the First National Bank. Are they changing that too?
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there is always the local Federal Credit Union
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Duh... -
I'm thinking the State Bank might be better. Although when we have one world currency, The International Bank might be best.
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but then how would people make money on currency speculation. You've got to remember that it is THOSE people that run the world!
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Mr. Soros doesn't need to make any more money. He already owns a president.
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If foreigners want to stay in United States they will be obliged to learn the culture and of course the English language. Foreigners must develop their communication skills if they are not good enough with it. -
hmm.. a large part of my ex husbands family is from somewhere else and after 5 generations only the youngest speaks english and it's poorly at best. Those making the argument "to become a citizen they have to learn and pass x,y, & z in english" are forgetting the many immigrant communities across the nation have no intention of becoming a citizen or following any of those steps. I have lived in many locations and trust me when I tell you one does not need to know english to function in this country. Should we have an official language, sure, I would say to make it english simply because the country itself was founded in the english language. We could even be douches about it if we wanted and list it as "American English" just so we're special I wonder how many trees get cut down to make the same damn pamphlets in English and Spanish at every DMV, SSA office, hell we'll say every governmental office. I don't really care about the trees but I figured I'd mention it. I find it unfair that only Spanish immigrants get to read the stuff when we have people from all over the world. I have learned that by providing things in Spanish, it eliminated the drive of many to bother learning english. While I am sure they make productive community members in their own community, they would have more opportunity for success if they did know functional english as would any other non enlish speaker. If it were the official language and substitutes were not offered then perhaps more would want to learn. Hahaha yeah that's a scattered argument, but I think you get the gist-
Nah, no one failed to realize anything. You've got to read the thread more thoroughly to realize under what situation arguments are made and to what they are in response to. But yeah, why not make English an official language. It won't change a damn thing as I've already addressed the fact that English is the defacto national language. People aren't going to be motivated to learn English anymore than they are now, that is unless there is some sort of Language Police Force employed to punish those who don't speak English.
Here is the big picture. We already have a defacto national language and measures put in place to convert people to speak it. There are people who don't speak it and who won't speak it for whatever reasons. The only real way to change this is to either employ a Language Police Force, deport them all, or to be flexible and speak more languages ourselves. I prefer option 3.
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Talk about not following the thread! No one is talking about outlawing the use of other languages. The argument is that making English the only official language in which GOVERNMENT documents would be issued would be fairer(for those whose language isn't currently included), more efficient and consistent. No one who advocates a national language cares how many people speak what language, aside from its use in government. In fact I believe many of these same people detest the thought of more government intervention in any aspect of their lives. The current quasi or officially mandated use of Spanish (and sometimes, depending on the community Creole, or Vietnamese, or?) is poorly thought out and responds to an emotional rather than a rational need. Once again I state the case that if these documents need to be translated for the good of one group then they need to be translated into all languages(hundreds, at least). That would be an onerous and ridiculous undertaking. The only sane course is that they be rendereed in one language.
Most countries in the world, even "highly civilized" European ones that don't have two or more official languages, follow the policy of one language for government work. I also take exception to the notion that most people in the world speak more than one language. They might understand a little bit of another language(not infrequently English), but fluent they are not. Most Americans at this point know a little pidgin Spanish. Some folks in this discussion are a bit confused about what an official language would mean. Hopefully this clears it up for them.-
Man, if you think this whole thread is about documents and saving paper, you seriously need some reading glasses. Did you read the guys blog?
No one is talking about outlawing other languages, it's about having people speak English. So somehow making English the national language is going to make people learn English? One single sentence in the constitution? I'm tired of repeating points, but there needs to be more done than just making it law.
Making government documents be in only English is going to change something? LOL. Most immigrants don't even read gov't documents. ROFLMAO!
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I vote for English as the official language. My family spends our summers in Tuscany - as in Italy. It is extremely rare to find anything in English, especially in the city we stay in. Why? BECAUSE YOU'RE IN ITALY AND THEY SPEAK ITALIAN. So what do we Americans do before we fly into Florence? We brush up on our Italian so we can navigate and communicate with the Italian nationals.
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