The Case For English Only

[Terri]

By Harris R. Sherline
June 23, 2008

Enough already! How many languages should we be expected to speak in America? And, how many languages should our government and other institutions, such as hospitals and schools, be required to accommodate? The problem is not just Spanish speakers. It's the more than 320 other tongues that are spoken in America today.

Hispanics now comprise about 35% of the population of California, many of whom do not speak English. So, should we be required to print all government documents in both English and Spanish, teach school in Spanish, give civil service exams in Spanish, hire people who don't speak English?

But, it's not just about communication, although that's certainly important. It's also a pocketbook issue, about the economic impact that trying to accommodate multiple languages has on our society. Alameda County (CA) Medical Center, which "has 18 full-time interpreters or staff in addition to 19 on-call translators," is but one example of the burden that such laws can place on public institutions.

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[mikemo]

Can you imagine Mexico printing the driving license and citizenship tests in English?
Not in my lifetime.

[Charie]

"The Canadian Government spends $260 million annually to do government business in both of the nation's official languages."

I got a chuckle reading this because it was very noticeable while driving to Alaska some years ago that the farther west we drove the less highway signs were in French and English. By the time we reached Alaska signs were printed almost exclusively in English.

[Jamble]

We should have one official language for all official bunsiness in the US--English.
Multiple languages only serve to divide us.

Canada is a good case in point--two languages have divided the country with those speaking French wanting to be a separate nation.

Maybe older immigrants to the US would have a hard time learning a to speak English but the second and third generation should be fluent in the language.

[FITCamaro]

If you don't want to speak English, don't come here to America. It is our language. We don't go to other countries and expect them to accommodate us.

I have no problem with people not wanting to speak English in their homes. But if you want to live, work, and function here in the United States, you better learn OUR language. Not expect us to accommodate you.

I should not have to learn Spanish to go to a store or restaurant here in the US.

[83ragtop50]

Teddy was right, and I do not mean Teddy Kennedy!

The problem is typical of America today. The common citizen that lives and works in the real world understands and wants English only. The politicians who live in a dream world of their own don't care about anything but re-election.

[Dingbat36]

My State of Oregon will have a citizen initiative on our ballot in November which will drastically cut the "teaching in Spanish" in our schools.

What an outcry!! We have people doing "push polls" which are of course not really polls but an attempt to identify people who support the bill and then use a "script" of questions intended to change the voter's mind. The origin of these polls is pretty transparent, if you use a little logic, the entities behind these efforts is plain, funded no doubt by the NEA and the Oregon arm of that organization. The schools have been collecting money for teaching the "illegals" in Spanish and they are not wanting to give up that money, these mental midgets think of this cash as Federal money. While that is true, it still comes out of the same pocket, yours and mine. The NEA was pretty successful with the "free" breakfast and lunch programs which expanded into summer programs! I guess the operative phrase is "follow the money". I'm for following California's full immersion English program, it's working quite nicely, thank you!

State laws seem to be the only solution for what our dim bulbs in Washington will not do.

[nc609]

We do not need and "official language" --that is too dictatorial and will be hard to explain. What the U.S. needs is an official common language. English has been the common language for most of the world for several decades. That the U.S. and the world needs a "common language" just as much as we need a "common" set of weights and measures. The need for and benefit of a common language, as a part of basic education, should be obvious to all. I guess that prejudice and bias based on race, nationality, religion or ethnicity STILL are the major sources of opposition to this much needed improvement to civilization.

[Cynical Pete]

Naturally, we all know one language in any country is for the general good of that nation. However, the authorities will not enforce certain laws and we have the US Supreme Copurt and the California Supreme Court gnawing at and eroding the foundations of our once Great Nation. What the majority of the citizens want and vote for seems to be moot.
“The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all citizens.” —Thomas Jefferson
This is definately not happening!

[Charie]

I guess that prejudice and bias based on race, nationality, religion or ethnicity STILL are the major sources of opposition to this much needed improvement to civilization.

nc609, welcome to GOPUSA. It's good to see you posting here.

Hope you don't mind if I contradict your statement. Prejudice and bias don't enter into it as far as most people are concerned. It rankles because people come to our country illegally and expect to be treated as citizens. Sorry. Wrong number.

The thought that someone who is breaking our national laws demands (and has the gall to take to the streets to do this) we give them "rights" which they do not have, is the ultimate in "in your face" behavior.

It's crazy.