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

This may be one of the very few far right opinions that I have, but I strongly believe that English should be the official language of the United States.

First of all, most countries have a language that the majority of their population speaks. Japan speaks Japanese, France speaks French, Sweden speaks Swedish, the U.S speaks English, etc.

My point is that all of these countries and more have always spoken a single language, and it's a part of their customs. The U.S has always had an English speaking majority, and I don't see why people are trying to tear this down. Some minimum wage jobs now require knowledge with speaking Spanish or other foreign dialects.

I always thought it was considered a form of respect to learn another language when you immigrate or spend lots of time in other countries, so why the lack of respect for English here in the U.S? Why can't people accept it and learn it if they want to interact with Americans?

I have nothing against learning a language, but it should be a freedom of choice kind of thing and not forced down other people's throats, just to accommodate those who don't want to learn our language. I don't go to other countries and demand they learn English, so the same rules should apply here.

I'm mostly a progressive person, so I hope I don't come off as some extreme right winger. I just happen to believe that language is such a basic form of communication that expecting people to learn an entire new one in their adult years is unreasonable, especially when it's people who were born in their native country and have only known one language their entire life. So my argument may be mostly for personal reasons, but still.

 

I didn't check yes or no. I'm not sure exactly what an "official language" of a nation get ya. I guess it's better to have road signs and restaurant menus in one or two languages than in say, five thousand! But I really don't care what language people in the US speak. I kind of like the variety. And it really doesn't bother me if I can't understand what someone saying. It's one less person to have to (*)(*)(*)(*) with.

 

To me it's just , why? Let people speak what they want to, there's no need to have an offical language. People speak whatever they want to without an official language, it's just the government trying to tell people what to do.

 

To clarify, I don't think people should be banned from speaking non-English languages. I just think English should be treated as the standard in the U.S.

 

First, there isn’t just one language spoken in most other countries. I have lived in seven countries and have visited around 40, and with the exception of Libya, multiple languages were spoken and signs were in multiple languages as well in the places I have been. Granted, all countries have a language of majority and most countries DO have an official language but that just means that government business is done in that language.

But I am against homogenization and pointless laws and declaring English the official language would be a pointless law. Official US business is already done in English. Among the requirements to gain US citizenship is an English test. Official signs are all in English. You can’t get a decent job without being able to speak English. So is there any point to the law other than nationalism?

 

Every one that lives in the US should learn to read and write English. If you get any thing from the state of government it is 6 pages long for a couple sentences.

 

"In the beginning..."
When the founding fathers considered this question, English was NOT the only language to be considered, but it was their choice. Any questions?

 

My mother taught citizenship classes back in FDR time, to foreigners and English was a requirement.
I do not know what happened but I am opposed to any language other than English being used at
Tax Payer expense.
Foreign language ballots are an anathema.
This is not to infringe on anyone's right to publish, broadcast, etc. in a foreign language.
Although why don't those Spanish TV stations have to broadcast in English on a dual broadcast like Anglos must en Espaniol
Just that the business of the <doom> Federal government <Darth Vadar breath sounds> be limited to English.
I have no problem with States allowing other languages at the State level.
However: IMO (OMG I used my first IMO evah)
Except for Spanish in a few States historically and written into their State constitutions, I see No justification for any other foreign languages. Mandarin, Vietnamese, Hmong, or Canadian. Let the later learn to spell without extra "u" 's.
The American English language unites the country. It is as simple as that.


Moi

Vote YES​

English as the official language of



Consider living mostly free and some French
​

 

Agreed. It's a practical matter of everyone being able to communicate. There has to be a lingua franca, like Latin in medieval Europe. Otherwise, the country would be fragmented into isolated linguistic clusters, unable to have any common life. The political implications would be lethal - a Balkanized nation with people oblivious and uncaring of their fellow citizens. What happens to work or to large-scale economic enterprise without a unifying language?

The US is probably the most diverse country in the world, with hundreds of languages spoken. People can speak as they wish with their family and friends, but if they don't speak a common language they opt out of national life.

Of course, many leftists are hostile to the idea of a country; they want a world where there's only the central government issuing edicts (presumably in several hundred languages) and individual people who look to government for everything. They don't want to see families, communities, businesses, or states - just helpless individuals and an all-powerful government. Atomizing the population by encouraging a Babel of languages furthers that agenda. The rest of us want to be able to talk with other people.

 

It doesn't matter to me what language folks speak in their own home, but in order to communicate outside the home, its best to agree on one common language. I would even go as far as making it green card/naturalization requirement.

 

What practical differences do you think making English the official language would actually make?

In what way is anyone trying to tear anything down? Who is trying to prevent the majority of Americans from speaking English (apart from the school system )?

I bet they require knowledge of speaking English too. If private companies want to serve their customers better by having staff who speak their first language as well as their second isn't that their business? Making English the official language wouldn't change that anyway. Are you suggesting some kind of ban on language skills as crieria for private employement?

You've yet to demonstrate that a significant number of people don't. There can be a world of difference from knowing a second language well enough to communicate day-to-day and from not having any benefit from having some things, especially if their technical or contain important details, in their first language. And again, how would establishing an official language change this in any way?

Isn't there a slight contradiction there? It's unreasonable to expect Americans to learn other languages (not that anyone is) but it's not unreasonable to expect legal immigrants or refugees to learn English? Isn't this really just recognition that learning a second language as an adult is difficult so even those immigrants committed to doing so aren't going to become perfectly fluent in a short period of time.

It's not as if Americans speak English properly anyway. Maybe you should get your own language and stop mangling ours.

 

The requirement of multiple languages is another front of multiculturalism. We had always required that people learn the English language in the past, prior to becoming a citizen. Now it's a second thought... in some cases, not even. We're kowtowing to every culture, which actually strains us, economically. Not only are we printing signs in 2-3 languages, but we're printing government documents in multiple languages, as well. That gets costly.

English should be a requirement to do business in/with the United States and it should be the official language. We shouldn't print signs in multiple languages, we shouldn't print government documents in multiple languages and we shouldn't move businesses into a position where they need to hire multilinguists to run sales in a retail store or customer service line. It also causes confusion for our police officers and places further obstacles in enforcing the law. It's ridiculous how PC we've become.

Press 1 for Spanish... Press 2 for English.

 

i say yes but at the same time we shouldnt bar people from speaking the language they please. Since english is the language spoken by damned near everyone in this country it should be imperative that others do and try to learn the language.

I know im probably gonna get flamed for this but im only using it as n example, not trying to preach religion or make new believers. Take the story of the Tower of babylon as an example. The tower was a grand structure, many peoples contributing to build it "as high as the heavens" . But because of miscommunication and nobody being able to understand each other, the tower fell because everything went to (*)(*)(*)(*) .

this can happen anywhere, and if you have a bunch of people that cant simply communicate with each other then not much at all will get done and social misunderstanding will lead to many problems...even violence.

 

What is the language of instruction in schools and unversities in America? What is the language of legislature and the legal system in America?

 

No Comprende Senor !

 

I think that it should be the official language. However, I think it would be best to have both English and Spanish as official languages so that way those who speak Spanish and are citizens can more easily speak to government representatives, fill out forms in Spanish, etc. I think for the most part the government does have people who speak Spanish that Spanish speaking citizens can speak to but I have almost never seen any Spanish forms or anything. I believe we do have a lot of Spanish speakers in our nation so that is why I think both English and Spanish should be official languages.

 

I think the difference is that English speaking Americans like me were born here and grew up with the language. Immigrants make a choice to come here, so naturally they should learn the language. If they can't, they really should think long and hard about whether they want to come here if they can't interact with the locales. If I wanted to move to France, I'd try to learn French. It's really comes down to respecting other cultures.

 

What's naturalization? I agree with you that there should be one common language in America, but I don't understand what you mean by "naturalization".

 

As in becoming a naturalized citizen.

 

At the time of the revolution, a huge number of people in the colonies spoke German.
There was even a bill proposed in the House in 1795 to require that all laws and official documents be published in English and German.
In Pennsylvania, some schools were conducted in German, and Pennsylvania published all official documents in English and German until 1950.
In Pennsylvania and Ohio, parents could request that their children be educated in German.

Yet English dominates the American language landscape, without being dubbed "The Official Language".
What would it change?

 

I see your point. Maybe people who can't speak English are being marginalized even further because of this. It's very difficult for an adult to learn a second language. One could say that if you don't know English, don't move to the USA. But, one could also say that one who gets a job in the USA shouldn't be kept out due to a language barrier.

Besides, it seems as if many home-grown Americas barely know how to form a sentence these days. I am sounding like a crotchety old man.

Spanish class is readily available in US high schools. It seems like a fair trade to force English speakers to know a bit of Spanish while forcing Spanish speakers to know a bit of English.

 

There is no need to make an official language. We just need to stop this notion that illegal aliens have a right to become legal by virtue of having come here illegally.

 

Most of this. But let me give a passionate argument for making English the National Language: Why not? Why is it that we Americans have so little pride, cultural identity, vision, or anything at all? The vision died along with the Founders. Now we hold onto the concept of "freedom", without knowing what that actually is, or what it stands for?

Japan has Japanese as a national language. You can be sure as hell that Britain still upholds English. Why not, we as Americans?

We're a European-English Nation. There's nothing wrong with that. It's impossible to have several existing subcultures without a national identity, but that's the kind of stupidity we're trying to do under the guise of not "hurting everyone's feelings."

But all this does, is it'll put all of those existing subcultures at war with each other. Whereas, if everyone learns English as a National Language, we'll be more united than ever before.

Minorities gain more rights, as the majority welcomes them into the culture. When there is no culture, there's no rights for anyone.

 

Very bold of you Shangrila and indeed, going very far. But yes, English is the language of the land.

 

Oh? You Liberals love to discriminate; why not force English speakers to know a bit of French and German too? And a little Dutch would also be necessary