Should English be the primary language in the US?

Question

Recently went to McDonalds for chow, heck I'm the only person who speaks straight English in there... MIRA... I'm not even American... I'm Asian! Heck! the trouble they made us go through with immigration to make sure we speak English right, and America is full of so called "Americans" who can't speak a thing in English! Bah! Only in this ONE I support George Bush!

That's right, we should be able to retain our right to speak our native tongue. Here's the context: I come here in America to work, the US government made sure I speak English well even before I got a VISA (by taking the English tests) at my expense just to prove my English is up to par. They expect me to converse in English at work, when talking to your average Joe, and when I get here, an increasing number of your Americans/immigrants prefer not to speak English, arrogant even. And because I don't speak Spanish, or Italian, or German, or what have you... I get to be the odd man out. I have no problem with other languages, in my country we have hundreds of dialects, but if you will be working/dealing/interacting with the American public at large, "Shouldn't English be the primary language to use"?

Answer 1

I think you're confusing the ability to speak English when necessary (for example, when applying for a job) and the right to speak your mother tongue when it's more efficient or comfortable (for example, when standing in line at McDonald's with friends who speak the same language). Even if I were to propose that we pass a law stating that English should be the primary language (which I wouldn't), I still think Americans should learn to differentiate between bilinguals who speak English for practical purposes but revert to their native language for personal purposes and monolinguals who do not speak English and don't even appear to be trying.

Let's use some common sense here: it is in everyone's best interest to learn English. Foreigners know that. And let's face it, most of them do learn English. Occasionally an elderly person or mature adult immigrates here and fails to pick up the language, even after several years. But their children go to American schools and, more often than not, become so proficient in English that half the time they forget how to speak their parents' language. And by the third generation, you can almost guarantee that the native tongue has been entirely forgotten. The only thing that keeps Spanish from being completely wiped out by English the way other languages have been is the fact that there is a constant influx of immigrants who enter the country not knowing English, which makes it appear (to native anglophones) that Mexicans and other foreigners are not learning English and refuse to speak anything but their own language. But this couldn't be farther from the truth.

However, anyone who has ever acquired a foreign language realizes that it is a long, painful process, and that becoming fluent in a language can take years. Even if we assume that people want to learn English, however, it's not always easy to find an inexpensive English class nearby. In many areas, there are waiting lists to get into English classes, and that's just for the people who can afford to enroll in them. For many immigrants, the cost of attending college classes can be prohibitively expensive. And given that they work long days and often rely on others for transportation, the chances of being able to take an English class semester after semester until they're fluent are slim to none.

If we were all as serious about wanting people to learn English as the politicians pretend to be, we would stop screaming at people who speak their own language in public (because after all, there's every chance they speak English as well), and we would start talking about investing some money into English classes to make them available to immigrants for free or at a very low cost, and we would set up public transportation to and from said classes. If we did that, and we also started various outreach services to inform immigrants about opportunities for free or low-cost English classes and to educate them about how English proficiency can raise their employment opportunities (as if we need to remind them), I guarantee you, those English classes would be packed!

P.S. I find it ironic that the first person to answer your question is so emphatic about the necessity to learn proper English, and yet he made both grammatical errors ("if I was gonna" rather than "if I were going to") and spelling errors ("definetely" instead of "definitely" and "coz" instead of "cause") in such a short sentence. You want to talk about people who can't speak proper English? Why don't we make sure we Americans can speak and write it properly first?!)


EDIT: I sympathize with how annoying it must be for you personally to have been required to learn English while others apparently do not have to. No doubt our immigration policies are inconsistent, and you ended up having to do more to prove yourself than the next guy would. That's not fair, but do you really think the solution is to punish the entire population by telling them that if they speak their native language or any other language besides English in public they should be thrown in jail? Does that really sound like liberty to you? Does it even sound like a practical, efficient problem to the solution? It sounds you're suffering from a little sour grapes, to be honest.

What is this whole "People should speak English in America" issue really about anyway? The real problem isn't (I hope) that Americans hate diversity and think we should all be white-washed into sharing the same language, the same religion, and the same culture. It's really just a matter of people hearing Spanish and feeling (erroneously, I might add) that illegal immigrants are taking over the U.S.. I agree that our labor and immigration policies need to be reformed, but I don't think it's wise to take out our frustrations by mischaracterizing anyone and everyone who speaks another language as "Un-American". That's just plain old racism, and it solves nothing. If you're really concerned about English becoming the minority language, offer free English classes...duh! But if what you're really pissed off about is illegal immigration, then start fining companies and businesses who hire them. If there are no jobs for illegal immigrants, illegal immigration will stop. It's as simple as that. But it will cost, mind you, and perhaps more than it would cost us to just let things be. So if it's important to you to stop illegal immigration, be prepared to open your pocketbook.

To John: What are you talking about? English is the least spoken language in the U.S.? Have you lost your mind, or did you just pull that little "fact" out of your ***? If you're going to be a xenophobic racist, at least back your arguments up with facts instead of nonsense.

Answer 2

First of all, English is already the primary language of business in the US. Perhaps at McDonald's it's not, but all white-collar business is conducted in English. English is not under threat of being replaced by any other language. On the contrary, most speakers of other languages that I know desperately want to learn English because they recognize its importance in our socioeconomic system.

Even if it were going to be replaced, what would the problem be? All languages seem to be equally appropriate for the communication that helps us to get along in our everyday lives.

As a linguist, I believe that, unfortunately, much of the negative feeling that people have about languages is actually a reflection of negative feelings towards the people who use those languages. I am not calling you a racist (I don't know your circumstances), but I feel that much of the fuel behind the English-only movement is racism.

Answer 3

No way! America shouldn't discriminate against other languages. In fact, the government should encourage that everyone should not be afraid to use their native language. Americans aren't necessarilly people born in america. They are people living here and who are happy to live here. I was born in Russia but now i'm as much of an american as a person whose ancestors were cowboys on the frontier. By the way, the only true americans are native americans.

Answer 4

The usual of each written and spoken English among youngsters and younger persons in each international locations is appalling. Only personal cost paying faculties external the state run process appear to train the English language accurately.

Answer 5

Yes it should. Almost everyone in the US speaks english, so I think that those who are just coming over should learn English. Can't change what's been there first.

Answer 6

yea, but right now is the least used language in the U.S., cuz now everyone speaks either Spanish (which sometimes is no really spanish) Chinese, Japanese and many more. I think they should put a law stating that everyone living in the U.S. should learn English.

good luck.

Answer 7

definetly
cuz if i was gonna go to france i would not expect everyone to change their language to english just cuz i speak it

Answer 8

yes it was from the start so why should it change-- i wouldnt expect anouther coutry to change their lang just cause no one else has the respect to learn it- move somewhere learn the language......move somewhere learn the laws.......basically respect the country you move to and learn THEIR ways