Is it important to you that English be the official language of the United States of America?

Answer 1

Yes it IS imporant. That's obvious. Look at Canada. English and French ... the French part of Canada wants nothing to do with the rest of the country and has tried twice to seperate.

Two languages in one country just don't work.

Answer 2

Firstly, it is already the first language of most people in the US. A common language aids communication. The European Union with its multiple languages spends a fortune on translators. Despite this most European leaders in business and politics actually communicate in English with people from other language areas. A common language avoids confusion in meaning in law. This is very important with civil law, especially contract law where subtleties of nuance between language can cause confusion. A common language fosters inclusion. Those people who do not speak the majority language become locked within their minority culture, it can have serious effects upon their job opportunities. Historically minority groups have tended to earn less than the general income. If all languages are officially equal then minority groups could demand that education and other state provided services are made available through the medium of their language. In the UK the provision of such services has allowed some people to live here without ever bothering to try to learn English. Given the number of languages spoken in the US this would be a nightmare. On the other hand: In large parts of the southern US English was always in competition with Spanish which could legitimately claim to be the older language in California, New Mexico, Texas etc. The failure to encourage emigrants to pass on their native tongues to their children and grand-children makes the US less effective in foreign trade, and encourages Isolationism in US culture and politics. e.g. the Americans need to re-make foreign films for the home market, or recent criticism of Mitt Romney for speaking fluent French! The possession of a second language is beneficial to general educational attainment.

Answer 3

Yes, very important. Also important to me is that all commercial signs need to be in English. El Monte, CA and other surrounding towns have most of the business signs in curleyque (Korean, Japanese or some other Asian language). Classified advertising in the newspapers needs to be in English first and then any other language the advertiser wants. Anyone who works for the government needs to be able to speak English with little or no accent.

Answer 4

it absolutely is important to me that English should be the official language here in the USA. Greek is the official language in Greece & French is the official language in France. even if a bunch of Germans or whoever choose to move into one of those countries, they would not change their cultural ways to suit the Germans. so why should Americans be any different? I say stick to speaking English.

Answer 5

when the United States was started By the British we all spoke a common language english. 99.99% of all the citizens in the original 13 colonies spoke ENGLISH.
Now America is supposed to be a melting pot of other cultures we have to have a common langauge so we can all communicate with each other. so why should people in america that have already been here have to learn everybody elses langauge. all the laws and the U.S. constitution is in ENGLISH
so the new immigrants should make an effort to learn english. don' t like it go home.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, YES.

A basic knowledge of our government and history, along with the ability to speak English is a prerequisite for an immigrant to become an United States citizen.

English as the official language was always a moot issue when immigrants actually wanted to assimilate and become an American citizen - it has become an issue only because of the illegal immigration problems we have. Apparently, this segment of our population isn't interested in becoming American citizens and pretty much want us to accommodate their native tongue.

I believe that two or more different languages will only serve to divide this nation.

Answer 7

Yes,

My ancestors, including grandparents, spoke a European language and changed to English as a committment to their new country. It make no sense at this time that we should bow to a new minority. It is appropriate and a bi-lingual country is a country divided. Look at Canada.

ALso, English is the new language of science and business since WWII. Most Europeans speak English now, and many CHinese. Other languages are a convenience to those countries.
Why change that andd introduce a new obstical to business and science?

Answer 8

English has been the official language of the US for centuries and why should it change just because of these illegal immigrants,if the US should speak another language country's language it should be Australian...lol.

Answer 9

I support that idea, not because I think it's wrong to learn other languages, but for the simple fact that it's practical to have one 'lingua franca', one common language etc. In america, that language is english. The people lobbying for spanish etc. are the ones that are 'emigrating' under false pretenses, in my view.
I think if they want to school their kids, they should be building schools IN Mexico. But, anything you do that actually fixes your problems then deprives you of a need to panhandle your neighbors. It's a political thing...

Answer 10

Yes it is important to me. I was taught in school through the 70's and 80's that it was our language.Later I guess the libs thought it was wrong for us to offend non citizens with our language and decided we did not have a language. I think they will soon try to take our flag,our way of life, our National anthems and our Constitution..

Answer 11

Scroll to the bottom of this page to where you see the flags......now check the languageS next to the American flag, what does that tell you ?

Canada may be bilingual and yes the English and French have had their differences, however it is flawed thinking to believe that all in French Canada want to separate. There are those who do, however the majority want to be part of a united Canada.

Most importantly we settle our differences without guns and wonton violence, we respect all cultures, and we are all proud to be part of the multicultural mossaic that we call Canada. So please Foxy , get your facts straight.