Five-in-six Americans support making English the official language of the United States

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I don't know...what's the ramifications of making English the official language of this country?

All the Hispanic people will magically speak English of course. Silly! Plus phone lines will never again say "press 1 for English", thus releaving all English speakers from their greatest burden: having to push a button. Also there will now be new names for all those jummy Mexican dishes:

"Can I get the Young Donkey? "

"Would you like some sauce on that sir, perhaps some Rooster's Beak? Black or Mottled Beans?"

All hail our new 100% American speaking nation, in which all our problems are solved!

Yeah really. I can’t see “officialising” English doing much to reduce people’s reliance on Spanish as a primary spoken/written language. Spanish is too well established for this sort of thing to make much of a difference.

Of course – it would be a different story if you speak a completely non-standard language with few native speakers in the US (Russian, Vietnamese etc).

[Dr_LHA 3]

The funny thing is no one is saying to stop speaking a foreign language when living in the USA. The majority of Americans primarily speak English. Correct me if I am wrong. But isn't it beneficial assimilating to the culture of the country you choose to live? Not force the culture to assimilate to you, the visitor? Seems easy enough to understand.

Being able to speak English is still a requirement for high school in this country. How many US native born hispanics are there in this country that don't have an excellent command of the English language? I lived in California for 5 years in places where >50% of the population was hispanic, I don't speak a word of Spanish, and yet I was still able to communicate, in English to everyone and anyone.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Dr_LHA

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The funny thing is no one is saying to stop speaking a foreign language when living in the USA. The majority of Americans primarily speak English. Correct me if I am wrong. But isn't it beneficial assimilating to the culture of the country you choose to live? Not force the culture to assimilate to you, the visitor? Seems easy enough to understand.

Being able to speak English is still a requirement for high school in this country. How many US native born hispanics are there in this country that don't have an excellent command of the English language? I lived in California for 5 years in places where >50% of the population was hispanic, I don't speak a word of Spanish, and yet I was still able to communicate, in English to everyone and anyone.

I guess that would make proposals like this just another way of trying to disenfranchise the illegal immigrant population who are more likely to have a less developed standard of English.

[homesick_american 1]

100 BILLION

*holds pinky to mouth*

I didn't spend five years at Evil Medical School to be called "Mister".

[JoeMama 0]

The funny thing is no one is saying to stop speaking a foreign language when living in the USA. The majority of Americans primarily speak English. Correct me if I am wrong. But isn't it beneficial assimilating to the culture of the country you choose to live? Not force the culture to assimilate to you, the visitor? Seems easy enough to understand.

Being able to speak English is still a requirement for high school in this country. How many US native born hispanics are there in this country that don't have an excellent command of the English language? I lived in California for 5 years in places where >50% of the population was hispanic, I don't speak a word of Spanish, and yet I was still able to communicate, in English to everyone and anyone.

I bet you haven't lived here in California within the last couple of years. It seriously has changed. It baffles me why businesses would put someone who doesn't speak a lick of English to deal with customers. When they know very well the majority of their client base are English only speaking consumers. Go figure that one!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Perhaps because Target and Walmart offer "jobs that Americans don't want to do"

[pedroh 21]

I don't know...what's the ramifications of making English the official language of this country?

All the Hispanic people will magically speak English of course. Silly! Plus phone lines will never again say "press 1 for English", thus releaving all English speakers from their greatest burden: having to push a button. Also there will now be new names for all those jummy Mexican dishes:

"Can I get the Young Donkey? "

"Would you like some sauce on that sir, perhaps some Rooster's Beak? Black or Mottled Beans?"

All hail our new 100% American speaking nation, in which all our problems are solved!

:lol:

[JoeMama 0]

Perhaps because Target and Walmart offer "jobs that Americans don't want to do"

No disagreement on that one mate!

[Dr_LHA 3]

I bet you haven't lived here in California within the last couple of years.

You bet wrong sir. I until quite recently lived in Riverside.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Dr_LHA

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I don't know...what's the ramifications of making English the official language of this country?

All the Hispanic people will magically speak English of course. Silly! Plus phone lines will never again say "press 1 for English", thus releaving all English speakers from their greatest burden: having to push a button. Also there will now be new names for all those jummy Mexican dishes:

"Can I get the Young Donkey? "

"Would you like some sauce on that sir, perhaps some Rooster's Beak? Black or Mottled Beans?"

All hail our new 100% American speaking nation, in which all our problems are solved!

Would you like some Freedom Fries with that?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I don't know...what's the ramifications of making English the official language of this country?

All the Hispanic people will magically speak English of course. Silly! Plus phone lines will never again say "press 1 for English", thus releaving all English speakers from their greatest burden: having to push a button. Also there will now be new names for all those jummy Mexican dishes:

"Can I get the Young Donkey? "

"Would you like some sauce on that sir, perhaps some Rooster's Beak? Black or Mottled Beans?"

All hail our new 100% American speaking nation, in which all our problems are solved!

Yeah really. I can’t see “officialising” English doing much to reduce people’s reliance on Spanish as a primary spoken/written language. Spanish is too well established for this sort of thing to make much of a difference.

Of course – it would be a different story if you speak a completely non-standard language with few native speakers in the US (Russian, Vietnamese etc).

Exactly! Also ...simply speaking the English language doesn't mean you'll understand what everyday people are saying. My wife is slowly learning just how different our way of speaking English from what not only they taught her but how they speak English. It can actually be very intimidating.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I don't know...what's the ramifications of making English the official language of this country?

All the Hispanic people will magically speak English of course. Silly! Plus phone lines will never again say "press 1 for English", thus releaving all English speakers from their greatest burden: having to push a button. Also there will now be new names for all those jummy Mexican dishes:

"Can I get the Young Donkey? "

"Would you like some sauce on that sir, perhaps some Rooster's Beak? Black or Mottled Beans?"

All hail our new 100% American speaking nation, in which all our problems are solved!

Yeah really. I can’t see “officialising” English doing much to reduce people’s reliance on Spanish as a primary spoken/written language. Spanish is too well established for this sort of thing to make much of a difference.

Of course – it would be a different story if you speak a completely non-standard language with few native speakers in the US (Russian, Vietnamese etc).

Exactly! Also ...simply speaking the English language doesn't mean you'll understand what everyday people are saying. My wife is slowly learning just how different our way of speaking English from what not only they taught her but how they speak English. It can actually be very intimidating.

Well its a given that there are dialect issues in the use of the English language, as there with Spanish. Not sure about the Phillipines - but a friend of mine from Germany told me that kids are taught American Standard English (rather than British English) in his classes. Most language classes (except I suppose the very advanced ones) aren't concerned with teaching dialect - which you can usually pick up on your own.

[pedroh 21]

I don't know...what's the ramifications of making English the official language of this country?

All the Hispanic people will magically speak English of course. Silly! Plus phone lines will never again say "press 1 for English", thus releaving all English speakers from their greatest burden: having to push a button. Also there will now be new names for all those jummy Mexican dishes:

"Can I get the Young Donkey? "

"Would you like some sauce on that sir, perhaps some Rooster's Beak? Black or Mottled Beans?"

All hail our new 100% American speaking nation, in which all our problems are solved!

Yeah really. I can’t see “officialising” English doing much to reduce people’s reliance on Spanish as a primary spoken/written language. Spanish is too well established for this sort of thing to make much of a difference.

Of course – it would be a different story if you speak a completely non-standard language with few native speakers in the US (Russian, Vietnamese etc).

Exactly! Also ...simply speaking the English language doesn't mean you'll understand what everyday people are saying. My wife is slowly learning just how different our way of speaking English from what not only they taught her but how they speak English. It can actually be very intimidating.

Well its a given that there are dialect issues in the use of the English language, as there with Spanish. Not sure about the Phillipines - but a friend of mine from Germany told me that kids are taught American Standard English (rather than British English) in his classes. Most language classes (except I suppose the very advanced ones) aren't concerned with teaching dialect - which you can usually pick up on your own.

yeah. some spanish teachers teach castillian spanish in class.. totally useless on this side of the world..

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Uninvited is descriptive. If the shoe fits...

Historically, when has that ever made a difference with human migration?

Historically, when did nationstates begin to control immigration?

It kind of mattered ever since.

I'm assuming then you know the history between Mexico and the U.S. over the last century.

So, you're saying that the history between Mexico and the US makes the US/Mexico border and the US immigration law somehow less valid than other countries and their borders and immigration laws and regulations?

I'm saying the recent swell of hysteria, outrage, xenophobia over Mexican immigrants who are here illegally is being triggered by other factors than just their presence here - you only have to go back say 50 years or less to see that.

The percentage of illegals back then wasn't as close to 10% of the total population then as it is now. Neither were local health facilites literally crushed under the burden of treating scores of illegal immigrants at taxpayers expense. Nor were there hundreds of thousands of illegals marching in the streets of Americas cities demanding some ficticous "rights" to residency and citizenship either. You can push your host only that much before your host starts pushing back.

Edited May 24, 2007 by ET-US2004

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Uninvited is descriptive. If the shoe fits...

Historically, when has that ever made a difference with human migration?

Historically, when did nationstates begin to control immigration?

It kind of mattered ever since.

I'm assuming then you know the history between Mexico and the U.S. over the last century.

So, you're saying that the history between Mexico and the US makes the US/Mexico border and the US immigration law somehow less valid than other countries and their borders and immigration laws and regulations?

I'm saying the recent swell of hysteria, outrage, xenophobia over Mexican immigrants who are here illegally is being triggered by other factors than just their presence here - you only have to go back say 50 years or less to see that.

The percentage of illegals back then wasn't as close to 10% of the total population then as it is now. Neither were local health facilites literally crushed under the burden of treating scores of illegal immigrants at taxpayers expense. Nor were there hundreds of thousands of illegals marching in the streets of Americas cities demanding some ficticous "rights" to residency and citizenship either. You can push your host only that much before your host starts pushing back.

Stop making so much sense.