Shouldn't it be required that only English be spoken in public places by US citizens?

Question

My ancestors that came here had to learn English, why should things be any different now? Ever call the phone company and have to press a button for English? Who agrees that is going too far?

Answer 1

i personally don't care what language people speak, but i agree with you about the service industry. to some extent i think that "spanish" version of everything creates a more lax mindset in that it discourages motivation on their part to learn english and/or to get better at it. i mean, what about those other non-english non-spanish speaking people in this country? they struggle with language barriers too, and yet i think they're more motivated to learn english not least because there's no "press 3" option for chinese or korean or french, etc.

Answer 2

Requiring that only english be spoken in public places is rather draconian and would probably never fly. But I strongly suggest the US NOT go the route of Canada and make some other language (e.g. Spanish) the second national language. Making french the second national language in Canada has been extremely divisive. All government offices at all levels are required by law to answer the phone in french and switch when they hear the person speak english. You cannot get a job with the government, especially the federal government, no matter how qualified you are, if you don't speak french and a quebecer who can speak english will always be hired over an english-speaking person who can speak french.

Answer 3

No! As I see it, the USA is a multicultural nation founded by immigrants from all over the world. For historical reasons English has established itself as the lingua franca. But requiring everyone to speak English in public would be extremely arrogant.

Look at Switzerland. A little country with four official languages. I admit, every one of the swiss cantons (the "states") can choose its official language. Some have even two. Even though, the swiss confederation recognizes the languages of the four biggest population groups to be official (french, german, italian and romansh). Why should the US only have one language?

Answer 4

No. No sane country on earth forbids its people from talking in an unofficial language in a public place! Would you arrest someone in a park for giving directions to foreign tourists? It would be a fascist requirement. I hope you don’t ever visit a country without English as an official language. What if they arrest you for speaking English? Not to mention the US doesn't even have an official language. Immigrants should be asked to study English and contribute to its already diverse vocabulary. Public/Government functions should be carried out in English and perhaps add surcharge for multi-language services to offset the cost in providing them. However, there shouldn’t be any language restrictions on private sector businesses except in legal matters where a common definition/language is required.

Answer 5

Well...

My ancestors came here in the 1690's, to this same little valley we live in now.

We got the charter from the William Penn estate.....

Isolated, here, we spoke German until the 20th century....

You know, of course, that English became the "official" language by only 2 votes of the Continental Congress...... less than a 1% margin.....

So, to my mind, English is not a "first language" in this country, by any means....

To me, in my position, I often think of people who think along the lines of "you must speak our language in this country" as being very closed minded.....

And I wonder how the Native Americans feel?? We lived along side them for a century, until "the english" came and drove them, and killed them off. In a manner of speaking, if one follows your logic, we should all be speaking Leni Lenape.......

When we won the Spanish-American war, we attained Puerto-Rico, as a colony. An island of Spanish-speaking citizens. We drafted them into military service in WWI, and in every war since. And, somehow, you feel that it is right to deny a portion of our own citizens full access to public services??

Do you feel the same way about wheelchair ramps, and brail signs for the blind? Certainly not being able to walk stairs "like everyone else" must follow your logic of "going too far".....

We are a bi-lingual (rightly a multi-lingual) nation. Some small measure of tolerance would do you no great harm...

Namaste, and Happy New Year,

--Tom

Answer 6

Goodbye Tourism Industry

Did you know that in Switzerland, 1/3 of the population speaks Italian, 1/3 speaks french, and 1/3 speaks german? Wow, Switzerland must be in a constant Civil War. All those people must just hate each other and kill each other at every turn. I know when I call the cable company and the very first question is "English or Spanish" it makes my blood boil.

What is wrong with you people? "If you don't know the language get the F*** out of the country." Ok...thanks Andrew Dice Clay. Try having some tolerance and some patience and some empathy for others that are a little bit different for you. BTW...empathy means imagining yourself in the other person's shoes. BTW...BTW means by the way.

Ignorant...intolerant...hateful...fear-mongering republican scum is all you people are.

Answer 7

Maybe it should be required if you want to make immigration and citizenship policies as tough and unforgiving as possible. Not everyone has the opportunity to learn/use English.

Such a policy, I think, is as absurd as requiring all Canadians to know either or both English and French. Again some people don't have the opportunity, perhaps even the ability or patience to learn. Should they then be barred from entering Canada? I don't think so.

Answer 8

"Required," no, that is anti-liberty. Persuaded, maybe yes.

I'm against the government spending money on translating things into different languages. If someone can't understand English, let them get their friends or church to translate it for them. Don't spend my tax money because you don't speak the language.

If some company wants to cater to people who don't understand English, that's fine, a company can do whatever it wants. The company will weigh (1) getting more business from people who don't understand English, versus (2) offending some people. People shop and don't shop for lots of different reasons. If a company does something that lots of people dislike, then the company won't sell as much.

Answer 9

Why not let US Citizens speak English in public places? Permanent Residents and those that are authorized employment in the US can speak whatever language they like. After all, they are not US Citizens.

Answer 10

God forbid your ears get soiled by listening to a language you don't speak. Your ancestors who came here didn't learn English over night. In the mean time what do you think they spoke?