IS english the official language for the US?

Question

if so, when was the law passed, and what was the name of the law?

Answer 1

I am bi-lingual and my dominant language is NOT English... HOWEVER, I do believe that English SHOULD be established as the official language of the land in the USA.

IF you disagree, PLEASE READ my reasons, OK? It is not about ethnic biases or discrimination or any political agenda; it has to do with practicality and the cost savings to all tax-payers.

First, we need to communicate and one language that is common to all would make matters easier and cheaper to all tax payers. How cheaper? Well, think, for example, what would happen in NYC where there are over 125 different languages and numerous dialects spoken daily by the residents and citizenry of foreign birth. Can you imagine how many translators would be needed in each and every government building and office?

Do you have an idea how many different forms and applications must be translated by police, schools, hospitals... etc? Do you have an idea how much it costs to translate ALL the different patient forms in just one other language? Do you have an idea how much paper and ink is consumed for the translation of all those forms to one other language? Now imagine if those same forms were translated to 125 languages plus all the other dialects spoken in NYC alone; think in terms of cost of translating, typing costs, cost of proof-reading, cost of paper and ink and storage AND think in terms of the periodic updating that is involved, too.

Now, if everyone who needed a translator would only bring a person with him/her to wherever they needed help (police, hospital, court, etc), it would make matters a little swifter to resolve, wouldn't it? Think of the immense paper work we need just to store all the hospital forms (intake to billing) to accommodate all the different language speakers.

When I first started in school back in the early 50s, I did not speak English, and neither did many of the kids from South America, Italy or the Caribbean... but we were all speaking English and communicating by the end of the year without ESL or Bi-Lingual Studies!

Kids today who in either Bi-Lingual Studies or ESL classes from elementary school to high school and enter college and they STILL cannot speak or write fluently in English... these programs have failed miserably, but it sure keeps a slew of people employed with all of the arcane and pseudo-scientific theories on education. It has become another bureaucracy in and of itself.

Ever hear of the expression "KISS"? It means, "Keep It Simple, Stupid" or "Keep It Stupid Simple." Don't complicate matters. Keep it simple. I believe one language would do that.

I do, however, think that everyone should learn a second language. If for anything, for personal self-growth. I wish children were still taught Latin and Greek for purposes of helping develop their vocabularies (I wish I had had those two languages offered to me as a child!)

Imagine all the errors made in translating something to Spanish... does anyone know how many different regional Spanish exist? One language, yet many differences like "British" English and American English; and the differences in regional terms from English in England and English in Wales or Scotland or Ireland or Australia.

The spoken and written English varies from country to country and sometimes from region to region within the same country (NY, Texas and California have different slang terms and accents). How about the English spoken in Belize, Canada, Caribbean (St. Croix, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, St. Johns, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, etc), Hong Kong (with British roots), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Zimbabwe? Or Spanish where there are differences (regional and national) within Spain (Andalusia, Madrid and Cartagena) as well as Spanish in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela.

And, it gets a little more complicated. Imagine the many languages in Europe alone! Greek. Italian. Russian. Albanian. German. French. Etc. Let's not forget the many languages and dialects spoken in Africa! Or China.

Can you imagine how many errors we can avoid (legal, health and medical) if we all agreed to communicate in American Standard English in the USA?

EDITED: Unfortunately, some people feel that if a person "speaks" Spanish he/she will automatically get an "A" in Spanish classes. Well, how come ALL "Americans" don't get an "A" in English when it is the ONLY language they speak 24x7 since BEFORE entering school? Just a curious question that begs to be asked.

Answer 2

There is no official language of the United States. The law that was passed makes English the National language but that's not the same thing.

Answer 3

Technically, American English is the default language. I think when English speakers fought for Independence and founded the country, it became THE language of the U.S.. Kind of like French in France, Italian in Italy, Dutch in Holland.... I'm not sure there was ever a law passed in those countries either, making their languages official...

It kind of makes sense, though. There's no law saying you HAVE to speak English in America.... but it just makes your chances of getting a good job that much easier...

Answer 4

Does it matter what the language of the US is. It once was english but everyone is being forced to learn spanish. If you don't pass Spanish in school you fail and don't graduate. But If a spanish speaking person don't learn english lets let him graduate. You have to take a foreign language to pass High School. And it is usually spanish. Every speaking language is welcome in the US but why should we have to learn your language to make things better for you. If we travel to your country we either learn your language or we end up getting dirty looks. There are to many laws passed that are wrong. So why make it a law to speak english in the US when it is the native language.

Answer 5

There is no official language for the US. Some states have tried this but it didn't fly either.
English, as poorly as it is spoken and written, is the predominant language.
If English were the official language, we would not have to waste all those tax dollars on bilingual stuff.

Answer 6

No it isn't. It's the de facto language, but there isn't a law.