English/Should it be a Law?

Question

Should it be a law to learn English if you are in this country

Answer 1

YES!!!!. why is it that our Doctors and Nurses have to learn spanish, how come if they want to live here they can't learn English?
one of my good friends moved away and was working in this factory outside of Philly and one Mexican girl told her that she needs to learn Spanish and my friend told her NO you are in America now you need to learn better English. the girl shut right up. hahaha sooo funny!!!!

Answer 2

Wow! Lot's of "yes" votes up there. I still am unconvinced about this. There are certain things, like voting and driving, which should be in the majority language of a given country. If a person wants to vote or drive, they should be able to prove a basic understanding of the language.

Having said that, a country is only a country or a nation, because of it's culture and it's borders. Language is a huge part of any country's culture. I have a hard time with immigrants who do not want to assimilate. When my grandpa's family came over to the US from Italy in the 1920's, they refused to speak Italian in the house. They only wanted to speak English. They wanted to be American. Because of that, my dad does not know the language of his family. But it shows that immigrannts used to be proud Americans. Now, I think they come for the handouts, as well as the jobs. Sad, isn't it?

Answer 3

No, but it should be the official language of the country. We are one of very few countries without an official language. This results in waste and arguments about reproducing official documents in multiple languages, in the provision of interpreters for various legal proceedings and so on.

I wouldn't force anyone to learn English if they didn't want to - but if it was the official language, they'd soon find it was very difficult to live here without learning some of it.

In other countries, where road or store signs are in a second language, they must also be in the official language - I would encourage that too.

Answer 4

I agree that people living in th US should be articulate in English, although by the looks of it on Y!A, quite a number of genuine USans don't properly master English grammar to say the least.

Now, I wonder. Is it Lawful that people enjoying US citizenship decorate themselves as being THE "Americans"? Should laws be passed in all other countries in the whole of North and South Americas forbidding people to think of themselves as regular Americans?

What I mean is: is law any better than common sense to bring people to do what's best for them?

Answer 5

Yes it should be!!!
Around here where there are so many chemical plants....do you have any idea how many contract workers can not read or understand English?? That is scary.....that's all we need is another plant explosion like the one in Texas City, Texas a few years ago that killed 15 people. If people would only realize how important it is for every worker know how to speak and understand English...it could be the difference between life and death.

Answer 6

of course it should. diversity is great it is what makes this country great, but the immigrants should still learn english. in this country if you try to get a job where the majority of employees do not speak english but spanish and you cant speak it and apply for a job there then there is the possibility that you wont get hired because you cant communicate with them. not because your credentials are no good but because you dont speak a foreign language. it should be a prerequisite for anyone who wants to become a citizen of the USA to speak english fluently. and maybe we will find time to learn their language

Answer 7

Yes it should. If you are going to live here and get a job, you should have to learn to speak English. Ask yourself this, if you moved to Mexico, would they learn to speak English for you, or would different companies fire their employees because they didn't know English for the Americans that were going to work? Of course they wouldn't. But Americans are losing jobs over here because they don't know Spanish. It's not fair!!

Answer 8

I believe so. In my sisters high school in Ky they actually teach English to the non-English speaking students as a foreign language. Seriously! At most of the fast food restaurants around here non-English speaking people are the primary employees and don't even understand when I ask for friggin' cheese on my sandwich! It's so annoying.

I think it's fine to teach your kids your language, but English should be their first language..

Answer 9

Yes. It should be required as a part of their citizenship.
It's not fair that we have to learn their languages. They are moving here so they should accept the responsibility and commitment of learning the American language (English).
It sucks when part of a job requirement is speaking another language. We were born and raised here. Why should we have to speak two languages just to earn a living?!

Answer 10

When immigrants, while numerous in number, were of many different languages, we could absorb them over a generation or less into our American culture. When many millions come in speaking some specific language other than English, they do not easily merge into our culture but remain an inpenetrable block. This should not be encouraged. We would end up with Canada's problem,but in spades.