Official language? Should we have one?

Question

Hilary said at the debate Sunday she was against English being the official language because we would not be able to print ballots in other languages. She acts like this a bad thing. Not one penny of taxpayer money should be spent on printing any official documents in anything other than English.

Answer 1

We don't have the authority under the Constitution to declare an official language...and I'm good with that.
States have this authority, and can if they wish..I'm good with that too.

Answer 2

I don't see the need for non-english ballots, since you should be speaking english by the time you become a citizen.

But an 'official' language is a big step with some serious consequences. One of the reasons I can't support it is that it creates too easy an opportunity for fraudsters to prey on legal immigrants and visitors who don't speak english well. An official language is the only one that counts in legal disputes, so if you write a contract in english and provide a 'translation' that's misleading, or even an outright lie, the english version holds.

Answer 3

The official language should be English because that is what a majority of the country speaks and how business, whether political or otherwise, is conducted. I lived in Costa Rica and learned Spanish so that I could communicate and interact with people. I wanted to show respect for their country and culture and not act like someone should speak to me in English. Learn the language of the country where you live in to show respect and to become a part of their culture. You can keep your own cultural identity, but at least try to learn enough so that you can interact on a daily basis.

Answer 4

Hillary is about 4 dribbles short of a lay-up and can't shoot jump shots. The campaigning is done in English, yet this "smartest woman in the world" wants all ballots printed in Spanish. She knows she has the black vote wrapped up and she's trying for the same percentage of the Hispanic vote. If I were black I'd raise hell that she doesn't advocate printing them in Ebonics as well. This woman is a socialistic loser and is not a friend of this country.

Answer 5

Congrats on your opinion...I share it with you. ENGLISH was spoken in 1776 and it's got us this far. We can communicate in one common language. PLUS, it saves taxpayer money not having to waste our valuable wood resources printing other languages. Ask older German or French people who were raised in predomitaly German or French households in the 40's and 50's....they will tell you...you had to speak ENGLISH before you started public school. They did'nt see a problem in it. It helped them get ahead, but now look at the mess we have!

Answer 6

Yes. Pass a Constitutional Amendment declaring that the English language is our official language and I'm onboard.

There is a danger in allowing others to come to our country and demand that they fail to have to learn English. It's divides us instead of unites us. It harms our schools, our communities and our workplace which in turn hinders our economy.

We have enough problems in America without creating barriers to hinder communicating with each other. Why are Democrats trying to hinder communicating with our fellow Americans? Why would anyone support that? Are they trying to overtly destroy America?

I'm not blaming just Democrats. Both parties (aside from people like Congressman Ron Paul) are puppets to the owners of the Federal Reserve. Those people who own the Federal Reserve are the real enemy. They are to blame for our phenomenal debts, our 31%+ tax burden, illegal immigration, piss poor public education, and the list is endless.

Answer 7

Yes it should We voted on it in the 80's.

GOP tries to make English official

By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 1, 2007

Some Republican senators are calling the English-language requirements in the immigration bill toothless and want the bill to declare English the "national" language of the U.S. and the country's official means of doing business.
The fight is over whether the bill should call English the "common" language -- as it reads now -- or deem it the "national," or official language, which the Republican senators say would cut the amount of government services provided in other languages and would overturn President Clinton's 2000 executive order that encouraged federal services to be delivered in different languages.
Sen. James M. Inhofe, Oklahoma Republican, has proposed an amendment to make English the national language -- a move that he said declares that "there is not an entitlement for language, other than the English language, to be given to people who want government services. Very simple."
Even though the same amendment passed as part of last year's failed immigration bill, many Democrats oppose it, and there is no guarantee that the Senate will allow a vote on it when the chamber finishes the immigration bill next week.
The English issue is closely linked to assimilation, a key part of the immigration debate, and a CBS-New York Times poll last week found that 62 percent of those surveyed thought recent immigrants don't try to learn English "within a reasonable amount of time."
The Senate bill tries to encourage English by making former illegal aliens show after four years on a legal visa that they have applied to take an English class and, after another four years, pass the citizenship test's English requirement before gaining a green card.
In an interview with McClatchy newspapers earlier this week, President Bush said the bill's declaration of English as the common language is a statement of the importance that he places on assimilation.
He campaigned for president in 2000 against making English the official language and in this week's interview said that he instead favors an "English-plus" policy.
"English is the gateway to great success in America, plus we want people being able to learn other languages, as well," he said.
K.C. McAlpin, executive director of ProEnglish, said the bill's requirements to learn English are empty because they don't kick in for at least eight years. He also said the test is "a very meaningless hurdle" that requires immigrants to write and read two sentences each in English.
"There's a lot of evidence to support the idea that many, many immigrants naturalize without any basic English skills at all," he said.
The overall Senate bill, negotiated behind closed doors by the Bush administration and a bipartisan group of senators, would grant illegal aliens legal status and a path to citizenship, create a temporary-worker program for future workers and give more priority in future immigration to those with needed skills.
Mr. Inhofe's amendment would mandate that no person is entitled to government services in a language other than English except as required by law, such as court translators to protect defendants' rights. The amendment also says when the government prints forms in multiple languages, the English one will be the sole authority.
Opponents said that proposal is a solution in search of a problem.
Raul Gonzalez, legislative director at the National Council of La Raza, said that 82 percent of Americans already only speak English, that the government prints fewer than 1 percent of its documents in other languages and that research shows new immigrants learn English just as fast as those from previous generations -- all which happens without having English deemed the official language.
"The problem with the Inhofe amendment is it has unintended consequences, or perhaps intended. The most important is it makes it difficult to provide services in languages other than English," Mr. Gonzalez said.
Peter Zamora, regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said immigrants know that speaking English is the key to American life. He said the problem isn't a lack of desire to learn the language, it's lack of classes to teach it -- including several-year waits for English as a Second Language classes in some major cities.
"For Congress to declare that English is the official language is empty. Instead Congress should ensure that we have the kind of services necessary to help the community integrate," Mr. Zamora said.
Thirty states already have official English laws on the books and making it the official language draws overwhelming support. In a recent Zogby poll, 83 percent of the 993 likely voters surveyed said they supported such legislation.
The fight played out during last year's Senate debate, when the chamber passed two amendments, one declaring English the "national" language and the other calling it the "common" language. The "national language" amendment passed 62-35, and the "common language" amendment passed 58-39.
But Mr. McAlpin said calling English "the common language" is simply a statement of fact.
"That's like saying the sky is blue. It's a meaningless statement that doesn't do anything to give English force in law," he said.

Answer 8

Yes. Then we don't have to print ballots and every type of government form in multiple languages. Learning English should be a prerequisite for citizenship.

Answer 9

The Official language should be English, other than that we would be a divided nation.

Answer 10

I totally agree. Almost all of the beliefs we founded this country on have been dissolved. Democrats worry too much about what other people think. English is our language and we should not change that just because we let so many foreigners into our country. If anything, they should all be made to speak OUR language since they are in OUR country.

Answer 11

Yes we should have an official language. Italian because it's way better than English! Just kidding (kind of).

Americans can be such hypocrites. How many of your ancestors spoke fluent English when they immigrated to America?

We don't need an official language. Everyone knows we primarily speak English here, and when they immigrate to the US they will have to learn to speak it reasonably well to survive.