Should English be the official language of the U.S?

Depends there are all sorts of accents on TV and different accents in the Midwest as in Chicago vis-a-vis North Dakota or upper Wisconsin. But then I watch little of the TV network shows.

Oh a true Southern accent stands out for the shear musical tone as opposed to the fake Southern accents.

Which burrough?

Which one? Ever see My Fair Lady?

Just look at New Orleans and the many varied accents in just that city and small region.

But we digress, English in it's many flavors and cadences and tones is still our national language and should be recognized and such and used as such and use of other languages discouraged.

 

On who?

Where did you get the idea that children don't learn to speak until they get in school and why would any desire to attend a school here and NOT learn English. Please explain the premise of your assertion there are some and that having to speak the common language is some undue burden.

It is not a mutual exclusive thing, foreign languages are widely available in school and out of school that doesn't mean we are going to have schools here that teach all courses in a foreign language.

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Because in the aggregate those pockets are minimal at best and English was still spoke in them.

 

OK so what, they spoke English too if they were a citizen. Either because they learned it in school here or learned it to get naturalized.

They are US Nationals not US Citizens, they are citizens of the territory they live in.

 

I believe it should yes

 

that is not true.

 

Because almost everyone could speak English.

My grandparents immigrated to the US and immediately learned English. They spoke English with a heavy accent. Among family and friends they spoke the language of the "old country," but they considered it necessary to learn English and to see to it their children knew English. That's what let my grandparents live normal lives and let their children live as mainstream Americans. Had they wrapped themselves in false ethnic pride and refused to learn the language of the country in which they lived, neither they nor their children could ever have thrived here. Of course, my grandparents didn't have native American leftists pretending to be their friends and telling them it was outrageous to have to learn English just because they lived in an English speaking country. Karma Mechanic, if you emigrated to Japan, would you refuse to learn Japanese? If you emigrated to Argentina, would you refuse to learn Spanish? No Italian in Italy, etc.? If you did refuse, what would be the quality of your life? So is it really immigrants' best friends who tell them America must construct an entire parallel universe in which they may live, just so they won't have to learn English? As I first said, people can speak as they choose, but people who want to be full participants in the life around them must also speak the prevailing language.

 

English is the common language of the despots who taxed us without allowing our representation.

 

Can we start with the South?

 

Here in Puerto Rico the official languages are Spanish and English, in that order. But it hasn't worked out very well here. Most people here do not speak English very well. And it is no secret there is much resistance to learning English. As long as PR is a US territory and not a state it is their prerogative to speak their native language. I will be curious to see all of that changes if PR ever becomes a state. Many folks here fear losing their culture if they ever become a state. I voted Yes, but only because as someone mentioned earlier, doing business, whether private or government becomes very difficult when their are two languages involved. And many times, especially in technical fields, the translation isn't always precise which can create some serious problems.

 

And also brought English Law to our courts. Unless you have a problem with "innocent before proven guilty?" We could have 15th century Conquistador Law from Spain here.

 

1/ You can have a dual citizenship.
2/ While in the States I met a lot of ppl whose knowledge of English language is almost non existent, yet they somehow obtained citizenship via naturalization process.

 

You are correct, and thank you for that.

They also gave you the language we are discussing, your culture, your educational and civic systems, and most of your traditions.

 

The Navajo can say "innocent before proven guilty" in their own language, a truly American language by the way, and not the language of the people we revolted against.

 

Americans wanted to ditch the King, not their culture. The Navajo was but one tribe of thousands located on the Northern Continent. And many were brutal warring tribes. Progress was necessary to accommodate a growing world population and the Indian ways would not have been sustainable. Mother nature understands tough love, and change is inevitable. The Northern Continent will change once again, and again, and again...As will the world.

 

I don't really care - it's no skin off my back if they declare English the official language.

At the same time, I think there's an argument to be made that the United States, as well many other nations founded in lands previously untouched by the West - that their initial and continuing demographics are so diverse that a declaration of a single language makes less sense.

Especially today, when we can talk into our phones and have it translate. There's not really any reason to declare an official language - but several against. The main, in my opinion, being that the US isn't really a single people, but people from all around. Why not cater to the customs of the people?

TL;DR - seems to me that in this case the claim of the individual outweighs the claim of the majority.

 

Yes it is true.

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Maybe you should move here then where we have no despots and have representation and English is the common language of the common man.

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What about it?

 

Then burden on them to learn English, the language of at least one of the parents.

A working knowledge of English is REQUIRED, if they somehow rigged the system that is their fault.

 

I agree with you. In public places English should be the official language. I also think forms like DMV paperwork, voting ballots, government documents, etc. should be only in English. If this was done there would be more incentive for foriegn born people to learn English. You can bet that if you went to another country, the residents there wouldn't cater to you if you couldn't speak thier lingo.

 

(My bold)

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_English_is_an_official_language

"List of countries where English is an official language

"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

"Map of nations using English as an official language or as the predominant language

"The following is a list of sovereign states and non-sovereign entities where English is an official language, i.e., the language of government. In 2012, there were 60 sovereign states and 28 non-sovereign entities where English was an official language."

(My emphasis)

So the odds are pretty good that English will be spoken, especially in the more Westernized bits of the World.

 

I'm not trying to oppose you, however, I totally disagree with putting blame on those who managed to rigged the system. After all, it's the job of the officers who're doing paperwork and interviews to sort it out, it is what they're payed for.

 

It is waste of time to state the obvious. The law is in English. The political process is in English. Americans learn English when they go to school. JooDee sees no need to make English the official language.

 

Lena you are right and the system is not rigged, the 70 year old grandfather of a friend went to his citizenship interview and he was gonna write an English sentence as standard requirement, but he said that everyone over 55 is automatically waived, plus his interview questions were also reduced since he was 55+. Additionally, you are allowed to have an interpreter with you if you want at your interview. We Americans should be proud that we operate like this and haven't become little Hitlers yet like all those countries in Europe. A 100 years ago, US citizenship wasn't even a federal deal, every state granted it as per their local preferences, and for example in New Orleans, you could have your citizenship interview in French instead of English.

 

English has throughout U.S. history been a large unifying factor for immigrants assimilating to our way of life. One of the most important fixtures in our country is education through the sharing of ideas; sharing ideas becomes increasingly hard the more people from different countries come here speaking different dialects. This is why English needs to be the universal official language of the states, people can educate each other without the barrier of language, no matter what their background or ethnicity may be. I believe the Mexican illegal immigration "problem" would be much easier to compromise on if they just learned English because right-wingers would see them as more patriotic, wanting to be American, only if they could understand them. Also on a personal level I see so many perspectives I did before speaking with Europeans who speak English; The fact that most of Europe speaks at the very least broken English has been very helpful for transatlantic trade & education.

 

Well, here's the thing...I perfectly understand if they're giving a green light to some elderly people who are applying for the citizenship, but I do not support being the same towards younger generation. For instance, I was eligible for a citizenship ages ago, but I don't feel it would be the right step cause I don't see my self loyal to USA and loyalty is very important component of life. Besides, if I ever decide to go that way I'd master my English lang and make sure to learn as much as I can about history and all other interesting things linked to America. It's the only way it should be done, imo.

P.S. In case you're wondering about, and some did in the past, I do carry IL flag in my profile to honor the place where I spent some time of my life. As a female I can allow my self to be emotional at least sometimes lol!

Cheers! and glad to see you still here posting after so much time