The US doesn't have an official language because there were so many German speakers in the country at the time of our founding. The Founders deliberately chose not to address the subject. Our hatred of the British lasted through the 1800s. In fact, there was considerable debate during the early part of World War One about which side we'd enter... English or German. We should have stayed out of that one for a variety of reasons. I believe that event was the start of our downfall, not our ascendence.
Back to the subject! Immigrants to the US through the 1800s and well into the 1900s spoke a variety of languages and settled in neighborhoods with their own countrymen. They continued to speak their various languages, but most learned English and forced it on their kids. They were smart enough to know their kids would need it to succeed here as Americans. They were also proud of their kids as they picked up the language. Total immersion works!
I am all for various people keeping their religions, customs, and languages. My ancestors came here before 1776 and the Germanic ones kept their religion and their language. They still speak German today. They also speak English better than most people they'd call "English." I highly encourage foreign language speakers to keep speaking their language, but you have to learn English too.
Luckily, at the time of this posting, 30 states have passed English-only laws, often by popular referendum. There is some sanity out there. Oklahoma will probably vote this way in 2010. It looks like popular referendums are the only way to get this done since our elected representatives are usually too spineless or too stupid.
Bi-lingual education is a joke. Many believe bi-lingual education is the best way to assimilate people. The trouble is, many don't want to or think they don't need to assimilate. Bi-lingual education does nothing but hold kids back because there is no incentive to learn English. There are kids who grow up in several areas who might go their whole lives without being fluent in English because they aren't forced to learn it. That is borderline criminal negligence. Those kids will be disadvantaged for life. Those parents might as well cut off one of their kid's hands. It would have the same effect.
I fully support H.R. 997 - The English Language Unity Act of 2009(http://www.usenglish.org/view/575). If the present US Congress has any guts, they'll pass this bill into law. It'll be challenged by some ACLU commie lawyer who needs a real job and some commie judge will overturn it. The law will make it to the Supreme Court and we'll see what those people are made of.
FYI to everyone who is born here. You are an American, nothing more. You're American, same as me. Deal with it. The only hyphenated Americans who have a right to be hyphenated have dual citizenship.
FYI #2: There is nothing rascist here. I'm looking out for the non-English speakers, no matter what country they came from (preferably legally).
Thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As a devout atheist that has very little use for either party, I find the idea of making anything other than English the national language, taking no action whatsoever, or pulling the Canadian double standard crap is completely ludicrous.
ReplyDeleteI think you really hit a key point that very few seem to grasp. When the immigrants came here, they learned the language. No one ever brings that up. It's always the same old "respect our culture" bullshit. I think we have come to the point where the now indigenous (sorry, Indians) culture trumps the new arrivals. If I move to Germany, France, Portugal, Japan, or any other country, I would need to learn the language to survive. To think that the same standard doesn't apply here is ridiculous.
Suggested reading:
President Roosevelt on the hyphenation of American
http://theblogoftheles.blogspot.com/2009/03/food-for-thought.html
In my first footnote, I'm pretty clear how I feel about Americans calling themselves something else.
http://theblogoftheles.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-with.html
I feel pretty strongly about English in publicly funded educational settings.
http://theblogoftheles.blogspot.com/2009/03/speak-englsh.html
LJ, I think we can agree on this one. Help me out with one thing. You think you are an atheist. What does that have to do with language?
ReplyDeleteAlso, please try to keep the comments clean. Thanks!
The first clause serves to demonstrate my political ideology. I thought about going with a derivative of "godless ACLU commie lawyer" but I am not a commie, member of the ACLU, or the bar. I suppose I could have gone with “godless former soldier turned Infrastructure Engineer that let his NRA membership lapse,” but that seemed a little long-winded.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the language, it’s your blog so it’s your rules, but if you reread my post you will find exactly one potentially objectionable word. Not exactly a Lisa Lampanelli routine.
LJF,
ReplyDeleteI agree it was just one word. My thought is
to keep it clean enough so people who would object to expletives don't have to worry about them... just the issue. Plus, maybe I'll try to get all this published someday, or let the kids read it.
You'll love my "Atheism" post whenever I get to it. I plan to tackle Puerto Rico next.
I just read about Lisa Lampanelli. From the wikipedia article, that's trash I can do without.
Brian
The official Language >>> Its is good thought and good steps because the same language finished the all differers of the working.make the communication more forcible...
ReplyDeletelanguage school london
Um, was that English?
ReplyDelete