Should English be decalred official language by law

Typical liberal knee jerk reaction ~ perhaps we should speak their language and give them all our jobs.

 

I agree that the immigrants would be much better off if they learned English. I am all in favor of them learning English. I would think that most of them would be in favor of learning English as well. It would only make their lives easier.

But if they don't learn English it doesn't make my life worse. I'm not being infringed upon, so I don't need a law to protect me from someonelse making their lives harder.

As far as documents in other languages, I don't know that it would prevent them from being in other languages, but it wouldn't make information such as voting materials mandatory in other languages. It would also be very difficult for teachers who are teaching immigrant children to work toward that child's education if they weren't able to find translators or there wasn't mandatory legislation in place that provided access to school information in other languages.

Removing those important things hurts our society as a whole, not learning English hurts the immigrants who choose not to learn it.

 

I agree with this. Not speaking English hurts the immigrant, but I don't see why anyone else should really care.

 

Let's review. Conservatives want English as the official language. They also did not want moter-voter. Coincidence?

This is just a naked ploy to remove Democrat votes from elections.

 

The only practical reason for wanting English as the official language of the United States is that it would save governments (Local, State and Federal) some money with regard to printing information in multiple languages.

But that would introduce efficiency into Government and we can't have that.

 

Closing down half of the fire stations (say in the Republican districts) would also save money.

 

However having more children fail, dropout, because schools no longer are required to send information about their children home in a language that parents understand and use to help their children would a far greater burdon on the govt. because of welfare, crime, prisons and all the things that go along with an uneducated populace.

Imagine a parent not able to read the student's report card, notes from a teacher, or be able to send notes, warnings, etc. to the teacher.

A little extra prtinting seems a small price to pay.

 

And if a conservative said that, the BBS would explode...

 

Making English the official language could help strengthen our national identity. IMHO multiple languages divide us even more.

That being said, I also think that states bordering Mexico should have five years of Spanish curriculum required in schools. Not to submit to immigrants or anything, but just to have halfway worldly verstatile citizens.

 

yes.


harry potter has spoken

 

I don't know my opinion on this, but I do know several people that learned English as a second language. They are productive, educated people. However...for whatever reason, they are not teaching their children English...they are speaking only their native language in their home while the children grow up (in one case its Spanish, it is Hindi in another case).

They want the children to learn their native language so they will be bilingual...which is a big advantage. However, they are going to let the grade schools teach their kids English as a second language rather than teach it in their homes. I think that is a big mistake. It puts a burden on the child for being behind the other children, and it puts a burden on the teachers and schools for teaching foreign language speaking children when the parents could have already taught their children English.

This hits home for my sister in law that teaches fourth grade. She said there are many ESL children that don't get as good as an education because they have to learn English first, then the subject, so she doesn't understand why you wouldn't teach them English at home first if you had the resources.

Has anyone else encountered this?

 

That's an interesting argument about strengthening our national identity and that multiple languages divide us.

It might work conversely I'm afraid. First of all, if English is to be declared the "official" language, it probably wouldn't change the fact that official forms and documents would still need to be in various languages. Also, it would polarize the minority that doesn't speak english and those who sympathize with them by making them think that they would soon lose representation and power. I have no doubt that politicians would jump on that opportunity and raise hell to gain prestige. This will just become an even bigger debate. There will be lawsuits and even protests. All for what, just to have English as our national language as a namesake.

 

The all I would have to do is come up with a plausible pretext like 'houses in some districts are more fire safe than others' so providing them fire protection is a waste of tax payer dollars. The fact that it only impacts Republicans would then be a coincidence.

 

Being an immigrant myself, I can attest that ESL is a piece of crap. For people that are deficient in English language, they slow down their learning process and thus they never catch up. I have seen many other immigrants fail in this system.

Luckily, I had some English education when I was growing up overseas and my family pushed me to become fluent by pushing me to participate in spelling bees and essay contests. Unfortunately, a lot of immigrants don't have the luxuries that I had. I definitely feel we need an education system that pushes ESL kids to speed up their English education instead of slowing them down by spoonfeeding them.

 

I sometimes wonder where the concept of citizenship has gone? Does it only mean occupying a spot inside the borders of the nation-state? I don't think immigrants should abandon their native homeland's culture. In fact the additions they bring to our culture are what make our country great. While the snobby decry our 'lack of' culture or our 'stealing of other' cultures, I think its the integration of many cultures that have made us strong and versatile and innovative. However I oppose the recreation of someplace else in the US. What then, is the point of coming to the US? I think to be a citizen means making an effort to integrate yourself and that should start with language. That isn't a 'conservative' conspiracy. The exact language of the ohio law I disagree with, but the concept of English as the official language, or official requirements to learn English, I absolutely agree with.

 

A lot of the people at issue with the law are neither citizens nor permanent residents by law. I mean we can make English as the official language, but it's really just for the namesake. Most documents would still need to be in multiple languages for utility purposes, so it doesn't help us save costs or anything. I just don't see how making English an official language help us in anyway.

 

I don't know if that's true. Anyone have a breakdown? My points are specific to those who are staying in the US.

I don't think the issue in its totality is saving on some document costs.

As a step toward a requirement to learn English if you're permanent (citizen or PResident) I think its valuable.

 

If English becomes the official language, would an English exam be required before they get their green cards or citizenship?

 

to throw another aspect of the issue, our social security and medicare are highly reliant on immigrants who come in the country, pay taxes, and leave when they get older (thus not taking a part of the cake).