Why is there a drive for English to be the official language of the US?

Question

What are the arguments for and against?

I'm from Ireland and I was just curious as to why this has only recently become a national issue over there.

I'd like to hear from both sides of the argument.

I understand some states have made English their official language.

And others like Hawaii have made English and another language the official languages.

So why the need for a national language if states are doing it?

Answer 1

IMO, the U.S. A. needs to have an official language in that a common language tends to unify people.
There is already in place a provision for the use of English in citizenship tests and I think that a single language, English, should be applied across ALL government forms.
As for business, let the market decide whether the retailer, wholesaler, etc go bi-lingual.

Immigration and Nationality Act (8 USC)
Sec. 1423. Requirements as to understanding the English language, history, principles and form of government of the United States
TITLE 8, CHAPTER 12, SUBCHAPTER III, Part II, Sec. 1423.
STATUTE
(a) No person except as otherwise provided in this subchapter shall hereafter be naturalized as a citizen of the United States upon his own application who cannot demonstrate -
(1) an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language...

Answer 2

Generally speaking, the main reason I am for English as the official language, is the cost to do otherwise. If English is not the official language then our school system, postal service, hospitals and all other government entities will be held legally responsible to provide translators for services. It's about economic efficiency . . . However, I'm a bit worried about English only policy being a bit draconian.

Answer 3

Wasn't an issue until recently it was always assumed that if you come here you learn to speak the language of the culture. Now with spanish only towns and the mexican pride demonstrations there is a powder keg about to go off which go very well damage this country for generations.

Answer 4

It's the most widely spoken language around the world. American citizens speak English, schools are taught in English. Everything in America done in English. You can't have a child in America, speak only Spanish, because that is all your child will know, and send them to school and expect them to learn at the same rate as the English speaking child. People have come to this country for hundreds of years and learned to speak English. Why now should we conform to any other language in the United States. We put Spanish on phone recordings but we don't put in French for the people who come here from the North as immigrants. Does that seem fair to you. If we do it for one we should do it for all, but I don't think we should do it for either one.

Answer 5

It's only NOW an issue because of the influx in latino/spanish/mexican immigration issues. Now everywhere you look, something is written in english with spanish right below it. It's a joke. It's been english because it was colonized by the english and eventually turned into a nation based on english rule. Now we have all these immigrants coming in not speaking a word a english who are too proud to learn the damn language. It's pathetic.

Answer 6

Some people feel that making English the official language of the country is a way of defending America and American values. The fact that in a lot of countries in the world people speak at least two languages and sometimes more doesn't occur to them. As far as I'm concerned, all American citizens should be able to speak English and at least one other language, but no one should be a citizen without speaking English. But passing a law making English the official language won't make a single person learn to speak it who doesn't want to already.

Answer 7

My best guess as to way it hasn’t come up until now is that most people that have migrated to the US gladly assimilated to our culture as well as our language because they truly wanted to be “American”.

We have a wave of immigrants (90% of whom are here illegally) who don’t want to be American at all; they want all of the benefits this great country has to offer, but are unwilling to take on the responsibilities that come with it.

Besides that, can you imagine how many trees we could save if “Instructions” only needed to be printed in one language as appose to 5 or 6? It’s crazy… we have to thumb through about 50 pages of crap to get to two paragraphs of English.

Answer 8

Its an effort to prevent the crazier aspects of multiculturalism, like the government expense of printing voting pamphlets in every language known to mankind, requiring businesses to have spanish-speaking employees (or get sued by slimey trial lawyers out for a buck or 2 million), and the laziness of allowing immigrants to speak their own language exclusively (my own grandmother had to learn english in the 2nd grade to continue in school).

Answer 9

There's not a drive to make English the official language, it's a drive to keep it the official language -- probably because English has always been spoken and understood by its citizens.

Answer 10

In America most people speak English. We're a melting pot, so people that speak other languages come here, but that doesn't mean they can't learn English. If I moved to France, I'd learn French