Posted on 11/08/2005 5:00:55 PM PST by IndyInVa
English As The "Official" Language of America? A recent poll by a nonpartisan research firm says 83% of Marylanders believe laws should be passed making English the official language of the U.S. This would require that all official documents and government business be conducted only in English -- no more printing in other languages. Do you agree with this proposal?
In some areas, that is not realistic, especially if they haven't been here long. How long would it take you to become fluent in a foreign language?
A lot of people in other countries speak more than their native language. It is an advantage. Why shouldn't more of us have an advantage? We can't bury our head in the sand and think this is going away.
Holy chit mon you try'n to get your ride burned - later amigo
67 to 33, english.
Absolutely
Agreed, if you live in Spain or Mexico, or maybe southern California. Here in the midwest, we think that's crap!
Yes, we must declare English our official language now before it's too late.
67%
No, this will only make things worse for lots of people, unnecessarily so.
33%
68% yes....
Yes: 68% to 32%
This is a separate issue from whether or not you and I should learn Spanish or some other language. I have studied Spanish, German, and Russian in school.
If I went to live in a foreign country, I would expect to have to learn their language. I would not expect them to adapt to me. As a matter of fact, on two occasions when I VACATIONED in a foreign country, I spent 6 weeks (Italy) and 8 weeks (France) trying to learn the language. I listened to tapes while exercising or driving. I'd estimate about an hour a day, 4-5 days per week. I can't say I was fluent, but I could speak "restaurant" French and Italian, enough to get around, change money, order food, buy things in stores, etc. I watched a little bit of French TV and understood about 60% of what was being said. I was able to understand about 80% of what I read in the newspaper.
I expect that if I actually invested a REASONABLE amount of time, and if I were living in those countries and immersed in the language (job, friends, TV, newspapers), I could become reasonably fluent.
So, YES, I DO think it's wise to learn a foreign language. But I think it's even more wise to speak the language of the country your living in.
It takes time to learn a new language and the older, the more difficult. Of course they should learn English. Second generations learn it quickly.
Why should the children of US citizens be told to obey authority, attend school, study hard to pass English classes, while at the same time our system supports Spanish as an alternative official language that is meant to serve those who are not obeying authority, thus seemingly rewarding those who don’t follow the rules and punish those who do, e.g. those who study English?
The immigrants who have been counted who are legal; statistics 2004 show there were 35.7 legal million foreign-born residents with about 15 million arriving from Latin America. Since they are legal they have been in the country some time and they most likely speak English. Because, according to Mortimer B. Zuckerman ‘Land of Opportunity’ the transition from Spanish to English is virtually completed in one generation, on average.
But in addition; illegal immigrants from Latin America are as high as 20 million. Then there are more than 50% of those who speak Spanish who are also illegal immigrants.
Catering to Spanish speaking in the US, democratically speaking, is catering to more illegal immigrants than legal, those who do not adhere to the authority or sovereignty of the US borders. Not so good example for our kids who are told to do their English homework.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/050620/20edit.htm
http://usconservatives.about.com/od/homelandsecurity/a/illegalimmigran.htm
http://www.prcdc.org/summaries/immigration/immigration.html
oops ... that should read "you're living in"
I have. A person either CHOOSES to learn English or doesn't. See? THAT was simple!
Southern CA thinks it's crap too.
:)
31% No
If you owned a business and wanted to attack customers who spoke Spanish, you wouldn't think it was smart to know some Spanish yourself?
Voted! 69% for English as official language.
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