Should the USA have an official language?

[billbuckhead]

I think having an official language defeats the whole purpose of the USA.

[Gato Moteado]

1. pig latin

o-nay ext-tay

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Maybe it should be Ojibwe or Choctaw or Mandan...

...if you accept the premise that people who move to somebody else's country should learn their language rather than insist on continuing to speak their own.

[al bupp]

4. Hah, that's what somebody should say to O'Really someday

or Hannity. or Savage, or Coulter or any of those idiots.

[RB TexLa]

3. I voted shouldn't but shouldn't immigrants have to also learn

Spanish as it is a prevalent language in the United States?

[al bupp]

5. Competence in several languages

is something Europeans have on most Americans (Canadians excepted).

[billbuckhead]

7. Some of the local Chinese laundry owners have learned Spanish

Them Chinese sure are smart and work hard. I'm also amazed at how many immigrants with very little education have jumped ahead of the native population in using technology.

There are many successful bona fide rednecks in construction who speak Spanish. A moderately hard working concrete foreman who speaks fluent English and OK Spanish has a 6 figure salary anywhere in America. One of the best ways to superchareg a career is to be multilingual. Why do American's fight this? Lazy bigotry?

[TankLV]

12. NO.

English only, if they are to properly assimilate, just like every other ethnic group has done.

[RB TexLa]

17. If someone from India is going to assimilate into the culture here

in Dallas they would learn both Spanish and English to do so.

[billbuckhead]

24. Or Miami, Los Angeles, NYC, Las Vegas or Gainesville GA

This anti-Spanish and anti-immigrant deal deal is GOP desperation bigotry at it's most despicable. I agree with Hillary that Jesus and the good Samaritan story is a parable about how this immigration probelem should be handled.

[rucky]

13. I'm learning Spanish right now.

And I think it should be taught to every kid in schools.

[DBoon]

6. Anglo Saxon

"English" is the bastardized, frenchified lost stepchild of the One True Language

We need to recite the pledge of allegance in language that the writers of Beowolf would understand

[BringEmOn]

8. FAS/FAE Phony Texan (GWB).

[SammyWinstonJack]

20. Phony Texas accent is right. I don't know one Texan who has **

accent. And I know a few native Texans, I am married to one. He's as phony as a three dollar bill.

On edit: That goes for his "born again" status. All bushit!

[Loge23]

9. The only thing official about America should be freedom

Why not an "official" religion as well?
Oh, sorry. I forgot. We already have that.

[billbuckhead]

16. That's what I'm getting at

If democracy is a universal value outside the USA, then it must absolutely be one inside the USA.

[TankLV]

10. Yes - ENGLISH.

For many reasons.

[spanone]

11. It's another dumb ass rethug wedge issue. We have greater worries.

IMO

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Yeah "bushism"

:rofl: We will all have to learn it. :yoiks:

[Yollam]

15. There should be an official language.

It is in the interest of progressives that there be a common language with which all people in the country can communicate if there is ever to be an egalitarian people's movement to redress the gaping divide between rich and poor in this country. Not encouraging people to learn the language encourages self-segregation and weakens movements that should span across ethnic and cultural lines.

That being said, I also believe it is in everyone's interest to learn one or more foreign language. I'm fluent in Japanese and can speak some Spanish. I only favor English as an official language because it happens to be the one spoken by the majority.

By the same token, I am also annoyed by whites who express outrage that they heard some Mexicans speaking Spanish to one another in a store. Expecting people from whatever country to speak English to each other just because they are in the presence of white English speakers is just plain stupid. That would be totally unnatural.

I live in Japan, I am fluent in the language and don't expect the natives to speak mine, because I am an immigrant to THEIR country. But if I'm with other English speakers, I speak English. It's the most natural way to converse, and I wouldn't want them to feel bad if their Japanese wasn't so good. Or maybe their Japanese would put mine to shame, who knows.

The point is, it's important that EVERYONE in a country be proficient in a common language. And it's also important that the use of other languages be tolerated, and the learning of foreign languages encouraged.

'Nuff said.

[billbuckhead]

19. I've heard people say Japan's not a "free" country, is that true?

I wished I could afford to visit.

[Yollam]

28. I feel no more or less free than the US...

I could go outside and scream at the the top of my lungs that the prime minister and his cabinet are all bloodthirsty killers, if I wanted. I would get some stares, but I wouldn't be arrested.

They have very little tolerance for things like marijuana here, though.

Overall, I'd say it's relatively free, though. There is less dire poverty than in the US - I consider that kind of state-imposed poverty to be a form of oppression.


If you are seriously interested in visiting, a round trip flight from LAX can be had for about $500 US if you fly at the right time of year. Stay at cheap youth hostels and eat cheap local food from the supermarket, and it's not that bad at all.

To get a good price on tickets, you need to go through a travel agent specializing in Japan - Orbitz and Expedia will cost you double.



H.I.S. is pretty good. There should be someone at a local branch who can help, if you're really interested. It's a great place to visit. So is Europe.

http://www.his-usa.com/Branch

[1620rock]

21. Well, up here on the Canadian border French would be...

...in order...don't know anyone who speaks Spanish.

[bdamomma]

18. what's next having a official religion

this is a very slippery slope.

[1620rock]

23. We have an official tree here the white pine.

[liberal N proud]

22. English? - Which version of english do you expect the people to use

english sounds different and essentially is different depending on what part of the United States you are in.
Words don't even sound the same in New England as they do in Alabama.

The United States is already so far behind the rest of the world in language. We are one of the only developed nations where a majority of the Citizens only know one language. Kind of hard to deal in a global market place when we can't speak their language.

[1620rock]

25. Speak the king's English or get out eh?

[liberal N proud]

26. So we will all have to talk like bu$h?

I don't think I could pull that off no matter how drunk I was.

[eppur_se_muova]

27. Who's going to go through all our legal documents to translate from Latin?

[flaminbats]

29. don't we have one?

every person I know who speaks Spanish can also speak English. Most people I know who speak English can't speak another language.

I find it embarrassing that nearly every person I meet from another country can speak English better than most Americans, but most Americans these people meet can barely speak English. Most people I know from European countries say they're required to learn at least two foreign languages. We need to do that here..require all students to learn Spanish and any other foreign language of their choice! If this became a national education standard, then I might support making English our "official language"..whatever that means :eyes:

[cdsilv]

30. We already do. Its called 'dollars'. As in $$ are 'free speech'. n/t

[treestar]

31. It has been unecessary for 230 years and is still unnecessary.