What do the readers think about having an official or national language in the United States?
What do other countries do?
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak
City of El Paso debt=$2,670,400,000, county and school district debt=$1,600,000,000. Total $4.27 billion. Your share $19,350
elpasospeak 
People usually have a mistaken idea about what “official language” means. It does not mean that a certain language is the main language of the country. Official language refers to the language used in government. If a language is selected as official, then all government employees and all government offices have to use that language and only that language (unless more than one official language is chosen).
If the U.S. made English its official language, than all business carried out in government offices (including the post office, police stations, courts, city offices, federal offices, county offices) would have to be in English and English only. If someone needed a license plate for his car but did not speak good English, he would have to hire an interpreter to go with him to get the license plate. If you call the office on the telephone, there would be no possibility to speak to a Spanish operator, you would have to use English or hire an interpreter to make the call.
Places with large Hispanic populations, such as Texas, Florida, Arizona, and California would not be permitted to have Spanish-language announcements in the water bill or gas bill. Only English would be permitted.
In areas near Native American reservations, such as the Navajo Nation in Arizona, the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) and the Navajo court system would have to use English only, and the Navajo language would not be allowed. All Navajo litigants would have to bring interpreters.
But since the U.S. has no official language, neighborhoods and areas where other languages are largely spoken, such as Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese, can receive government materials, announcements, etc., in their language (which is how it’s done today). Having no official language is convenient and liberating. It makes the country work better for everyone.
–From Quora
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And having an official language such as English would motivate folks to assimilate faster and save tax dollars. We let in a million legal immigrants a year. Many of them have to deal with our systems without the benefit of the translated documents we give communities that get enough political clout to demand it. Is that fair to them? If I go to Mexico documents I submit to their government must be in Spanish. No one screams human rights abuses there. And for those of you that believe our country’s history demands this, we didn’t actually start supporting multiple languages in paperwork until about the mid-60s.
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I’m all for native-born Americans learning English first; then we can require it of others.
There were calls for an official language before 1800 (for German). It was the second most common language in the US until WW1 propaganda killed its popularity.
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Already disadvantaged groups aren’t likely to develop any further affinity for a government that dictates how they communicate.
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Of course we should have an official language for one simple and obvious reason – never MIS underestimate the power of comedic entertainment. l mean, l seriously doubt that anything is going to change except hearing an ample amount of whining, yelping, screaming, and the gnashing of teeth from today’s “oppressed.” Yep, l’ll be half-buried in my recliner trying not to spill my cappuccino from all of the laughter while listening to words like: racism, xenophobia, fascism, Hitlerianism being volleyed back and forth. Hell, let’s make Klingon the official language. Fine by me.
Brutus, how dare you tell me to be civilized, you enormous waste of humanity. You dying a thousand miserable deaths would be far too good for you!!! Now go and have a great weekend.
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At first I want to scream, “ yes, we need a national language!” It makes some sense that our government attempts to function with common words. Yet, I’m warned of Newspeek in 1984 and other forms of cultural purification.
What we need more is a population that practices their culture, of which language is part, yet still melts into American values expressed in founding documents.
Diversity of language can be an American strength. But the values must be liberty, freedom, and the like. The core value, itself, is not diversity of language.
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While we are at it, let’s outlaw non English colloquialisms, regional dialects, slang sayings, French Creole, southern drawls, rewrite any menu that might have words like “Taco,” “Enchilada,” or “Sushi” written on them. Let us outlaw the names of States that come from non-English words, such as ,oh, say Texas, or Oklahoma, Hawaii, Florida, Arizona, or New Mexico (we can leave the “New” part I suppose.) Let us outlaw any sports teams that might use a non-english name as a mascot, such as the Utah Utes or New Mexico Lobos.
We will also have to rename some of our streets, like San Antonio. All cities with non-English names will also have to be renamed, like oh, let me think of one…El Paso.
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Good one, Silly idea! How about we get new names for the Chihuahuas at the ballpark and all our streets like Montana, Alameda, Lee Trevino, and Mesa! Then there’s all the schools with Chicano names like Socorro, Alta Vista, Moreno, Zavala, Herrera and need I continue?
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One only needs to look up John Tanton to see where the “English Only” push comes from.
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Dual, multiple language speakers is a good thing. My wife, a Naturalized Citizen, speaks three languages, including ENGLISH. She learned , was taught in school. In the U.S. foreigners, especially Spanish, Mexicans do not WANT to learn, speak English. Most all other countries Citizens, Immigrants, visitors to the U.S. want to learn, speak English. And in foreign countries the people want to “Speak English with you”. Germany, France, Japan, many other want to speak English, TRY to speak English. Mexicans, Hispanics just prefer to TRY to make people in America speak Spanish. They are hired to do jobs as EMPLOYEES, but they can’t do the jobs, because they don’t, refuse to speak English. “No Englais” gets them by, an excuse. If I need help, information in a store, other business in the U.S., I should expect that ANY, EVERY employee can talk to me. In Japan, Germany, France, many employees do speak English or they will find someone in a hurry. Any LEGAL Immigrant to the U.S. is REQUIRED, should be required , to speak, read, write English.
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Having English assigned as our official language would not impede those who currently don’t speak English. It would merely make them learn and use it. Our national common bonds are our Constitution, our government, our flag, our national anthem, and language would be a MAJOR move in the right direction to unify everyone who lives here. We wouldn’t restrict the use of other languages among those who prefer to use them privately, in business (non-government contractors) or anywhere that their use wouldn’t affect tax dollars because of having to be redundant in services, bilingual education, paperwork, utility bills, election ballots, etc.
The biggest plus would be that everyone who lives here could easily communicate in both spoken and written forms without having to guess who knows what.
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Excellent comment, John B. Exactly right.
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Hey gringo, you need to convince those multi billion dollar American conglomerates to stop advertising in Spanish. How ya gonna do that? Yo Quero Taco Bell esé!
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