Speak English or get out!

[SivartM]

On Facebook I saw that some of my friends had joined a group called, "This is the US, I shouldn't have to press 1 for English!". In a search I found quite a few similar groups and pages. Of course, most of the people who join these groups think that English is the official language of the United States, and that only illegal immigrants don't know English, and that if they moved to a foreign country they would instantly learn the popular language (never mind that it takes years to learn most languages fluently).

The ignorance and intolerance is astounding. It's not illegal to not know English. It's certainly useful and of course I think immigrants should try to learn it, but it's not a requirement for living here. It would also be good for Americans to learn other languages. Only knowing English is not something to brag about.

I think we should all learn to communicate with each other. But not necessarily by learning English or Spanish. How about Esperanto? :D

[bonnie]

On Facebook I saw that some of my friends had joined a group called, "This is the US, I shouldn't have to press 1 for English!". In a search I found quite a few similar groups and pages. Of course, most of the people who join these groups think that English is the official language of the United States, and that only illegal immigrants don't know English, and that if they moved to a foreign country they would instantly learn the popular language (never mind that it takes years to learn most languages fluently).

[Dr. Shane]

America is the great melting pot and I think we do need one common language for the purpose of mass education, military defense and interaction with the government on various levels. However there are many advantages to a multiple-language society. When I learned Spanish a whole new world opened before me. There were songs I understood, books that I could read, people that I could visit with and places I could go that were closed off to me before.

Americans should have to pass a foreign language test before graduating high school. We should be able to speak at least one other language fluently and have conversational skills in an additional one. Of course, in the part of the world we live in, Spanish, French and Portuguese are going to be the three most useful for most people.

[Ted Oplinger]

All fine and dandy, Shane, but cultures - like individuals - want to be the "top dog", unless a law is passed to fundamentaly cut that off before it gets started.

I see no problem with promoting learning languages other than English. Some are quite useful...I even learned a few myself. I remain convinced this country needs to have English as the official language

Spanish (southern border states)

French (states bordering Quebec)

Chinese (business and trade with China, intelligence)

Portuguese (business and trade with Brazil)

Any of the major dialects of Hindi (business and trade with India)

Russian (business and trade with Russia, intelligence)

And the list goes on. Mine covers the basics of most trading circuits in the world today.

However, if one wants to ponder the glories of a multilanguage culture, then there must be either 1) one designated as the official language for business and government operations (the option most countries choose), or 2) pick the major two or three, then divide up the country into zones where a particular language is the lingua franca of the zone (the Switzerland solution).

However, the lack of assimilation these days is a matter of unwillingness, rather than the inability. Where people are unwilling, there will be no easy solution, as they are purposefully championing their own language/culture over that of the country they are in. There is no vested interest in many immigrant groups around the world to adopt the language and customs of the country they move into...so it's not just a southern US issue. Serbia has the same issue with Albanians migrating into their country.

This problem is found in every area in the world where there have been large scale people movements in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Food for thought

[karl]

Non-English-speaking people don't have to get out, but they have no right to have US citizens, and especially government, cater to them. If businesses find that it helps their sales to have interpreters or bilingual employees, fine. They are welcome to do whatever benefits them. But there is no reason for taxpayers to go to extra expense to accomodate those who do not learn the English language.

[Woody]

The problem is ... if we had to wait for the list of all the languages of the world's options ... we would fall asleep before we got to the language of our choice. And we would never be able to complete our phone call.

Ah yes ... Finally ... I can press 589. But wait ... does the phone have a number for 589?