I've been reading a lot about how every American should learn a foreign language and about the English/Spanish national language debate. English is the only national language. Our Founding Fathers spoke English. They wrote the laws in English. Our country's language is none other than ENGLISH. Period. I think our responsibility as Americans is to embrace the OTHER languages in the vast country we live in, such as French and, above all, Spanish. Instead of naming Spanish as our 'other' national language, recognize English the sole language, and then mandate Spanish in academic curriculums so language barriers are cut down. If there are Spanish ESL kids in the school, substitute the mandatory Spanish to teach them English. If they speak German, French, Japanese, or whatever as a first language, teach them English and then Spanish. The more languages a person knows, the easier it is to pick up others. Not only will this cut down language barriers, but it will also increase the knowledge and tolerance America needs.
English is THE National Language
By marsupial13 - Posted on May 31st, 2007
While English was undeniably the most common language spoken by our founders, it is inaccurate to say that all of them did so, or even that even all of our early laws were written in English. There were a great many colonial groups that did not speak English as their primary languages. Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Russian were all relatively common in various colonies, not to mention Tagalog and the various Native languages spoken throughout the interior.
There is a strong element of bi-linualism in the history of many of our states (Louisiana, New Mexico, Hawaii, Michigan, New York, etc.). Heck, the State of New York was still publishing its laws bi-lingually (in English and Dutch) up until the 1920's.
Virtually all of our founders spoke at least two languages, and most spoke three or four. Honestly, I think we've done ourselves a great diservice by gradually abandoning the idea that speaking more than one language is a good thing.
percivale
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"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions." ~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Adrian Van der Kemp July 30, 1816
"fouding fathers" or "Founding Fathers"? There is a difference --the proper noun refers to the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
I think speaking in one language is a good thing because we may be unified that way. Language barriers are exactly that: barriers. They are cultural walls meant to be cut down that divide us. Implementing a universal language is the solution.
Tsk tsk. It's not fouding it's founding.
No soup for you! :)
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" George Elliot
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle
...if the best argument that someone can fire back at me is to point out the occasional typo in my respsones, I suppose I can live with that. (}:^P>)
In any case, my comments work however one wishes to interpret my use of the term "fouding." Both the "founders" (in a general sense) and the "Founding Fathers" (more formally) were primarily men that were well educated, and almost to a man bi-lingual (at least).
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"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions." ~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Adrian Van der Kemp July 30, 1816
Apparently, there was a big debate with the Founding Fathers (capitalized) about whether the primary language of the US should be English or German. They never actually reached a decision, but the constitution and other documents were printed in English.
--Mike
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Check out SNOPES' article on "The German Vote"...
http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/german.asp
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"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici." ~ V.
The myth is that they voted on it. I never said that they voted on it, only debated it (which they did).
--Mike
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You stated that the debate was whether of not "the primary language of the US should be English or German." The is factually incorrect. The debate was whether or not the laws should also be published in German (due to the high number of German-speaking) citizens. It was never a debate about making German the "primary" language.
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"Vi Veri Vniversum Vivus Vici." ~ V.
I live in New Mexico and most people here aren't bilingual. They mostly either speak English, Spanish, or Navajo. My point of this blog is that we have lost most heritage culture. I KNOW most colonial groups didn't speak English. But that is what our country has come to. English is the dominating language and should be named the national language because of that reason. To eliminate the issue of unilingualism and language barriers, future generations should have to take Spanish at a young age since its runner up in the language dominance scale. I also suggest that a choice third language be adopted in curriculums.
"Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays." ~George Balanchine
*Tatiana Romanov
I just don't think that introducing historical inaccuracies into one's argument helps one to reach a rational point of view. If more people were aware that in fact no, not all Early Americans spoke English as their primary language or even at all, we might be able to address the linguistic issues facing our society today without all of the venom and bigotry that seems to dominate the discussion.
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"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions." ~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Adrian Van der Kemp July 30, 1816
"I just don't think that introducing historical inaccuracies into one's argument helps one to reach a rational point of view."
I agree, although I did make that mistake without clarification! :D
"Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays." ~George Balanchine
*Tatiana Romanov
Because I do not see how anyone here is being "obstinate in their opinion".
bigot
One entry found for bigot.
Main Entry: big·ot
Pronunciation: 'bi-g&t
Function: noun
Etymology: French, hypocrite, bigot
: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance
- big·ot·ed /-g&-t&d/ adjective
- big·ot·ed·ly adverb
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/bigot
I don't think that it is a difficult proposition to demonstrate a consistent underlying tone of bigotry underpinning the "English should be the national langauage" movement.
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"Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions." ~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to Francis Adrian Van der Kemp July 30, 1816
You live in New Mexico and I live on the border of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico... I just don't think that people should be forced to learn English or any other language for that matter. If it is their wish to learn another language so be it, does it help them?? Of course it does; but just like they say there is no cure for stupidity. I'm a spanish/english speaker and I do wish to learn more languages, but thats just because of my determination. ENGLISH IS NOT THE DECLARED LANGUAGE IN THE USA!!!! The US has not declared a national language, and if you say that when you go to france you speak french that becasue they have declared french as their own national language. If you want to read some more on this issue please visit my blogs!! ^_^ There is one that tatianaromanov you'll like in particular.
Its not my job to kill you....
I agree that foreign language studies should be mandatory. In many places it is... my high school (as mandated by the state) required at least a year of foreign language to get a diploma.
However, I disagree that you should force feed students Spanish. Let them pick the language that they want to study. French is far more useful in areas of the Northeast than Spanish is, and it is generally considered a 'business' language.
~C
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Many would argue about being forced to learn English. I think all should learn English, Spanish, and then a choice language (such as French, German, Italian, Latin, whatever...)
"Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays." ~George Balanchine
*Tatiana Romanov
You've completely lost your own point in this blog, you may want to consider re-writing some areas for clarification.
For instance, you wrote that the Founding Fathers all spoke English, then later wrote that you know they didn't. You wrote that English is the official language of the United States, then later wrote that you know it's not, but you think it should be.
I've always enjoyed my second language classes. It's a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to another culture. Not to mention, depending on the language you take, you can see some of the roots and how parts of our own language developed.
I live near to where Child of Light and Dark lives, and he's right about the area here. It's not uncommon to see a majority of the people here (of several different races) speaking a mix of Mexican-Spanish and English. Additionally, I used to live in Albuquerque, having moved from there in 2004. And I'm not sure which area of New Mexico you are in, but in the area I was in, there was a lot of people who spoke the same type of Mexican-Spanish and English mix, as well as Navajo. Even working as a manager for one of the restaurants up there, my best workers spoke only Spanish. What was I to do, fire them because they didn't know English and hire new cooks that may or may not work out; or brush up on my Spanish?
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/fanaile-essence
I live in Albuquerque and have for 14 years, thanks. Yes, a lot of people are bilingual, but not most. I think if you read my entire thread and ALL of my comments, you should be able to understand my point. I said the COLONIES didn't all speak English entirely. But its pretty clear our Constitution was. My entire point is, that English is the American language and I think it should be the ONLY one. To compensate for that, people should learn Spanish since its the SECOND most common language, but it SHOULD NOT be considered a national language. ON TOP of that, since many in our country speak OTHER foreign languages besides Spanish (such as French, Navajo, German, Chinese, whatever) we should be required to FLUENTLY learn a total of three languages before we exit high school (ENGLISH, SPANISH, and a CHOICE language)
Is that clear enough?
"Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays." ~George Balanchine
*Tatiana Romanov
Why should English be the ONLY one when it has never been the ONLY one in the past? We shouldn't have to adopt a "national" language. What is that going to change? In Hawaii they speak English and Hawaiian. In Louisiana they speak English and French. In Arkansas we speak English and something that resembles English. That is not going to change simply because we decide that we MUST have an official national language.
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" George Elliot
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle
I don't know this for certain, so please, no one quote me anywhere, but it seems that maybe the constitution was written in English as a kind of Eff You to England. That is certainly why the Declaration of Independence was written in English. We were declaring our independence from England, and wanted to be damn sure the king could read it. It's the same reason John Hancock signed his name so large! Maybe we speak English in the U.S as a sort of ironic default.
I'd look this up to see if I'm at all on the right track, but I'm on my way to bed. Feel free to see if this idea has any merit and report back!
makes a lot of sense to think of it that way! I never thought about that.
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"Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays." ~George Balanchine
*Tatiana Romanov
Chinese* (937,132,000)
Spanish (332,000,000)
English (322,000,000)
Bengali (189,000,000)
Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)
Arabic* (174,950,000)
Portuguese (170,000,000)
Russian (170,000,000)
Japanese (125,000,000)
German (98,000,000)
French* (79,572,000)
Those are the top 11 most widely spoken languages in the world. At least as of 1999. While I strongly belive that if you are going to live somewhere, you should speak the "native" language of that place, I have to admit that English isn;t that widely spoken. Only 322 million people speak it natively.
By your logic, We should all learn Chinese.
Now, if you add the number of people who learn a language as a second to the number that speak it natively, you get this list of 10
Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion)
English (480 million)
Spanish (320 million)
Russian (285 million)
French (265 million)
Hindi/Urdu (250 million)
Arabic (221 million)
Portuguese (188 million)
Bengali (185 million)
Japanese (133 million)
German (109 million)
Well, look at that. English is a distant second. Spanish, however, falls to third.
Now, if you work in a larger medium, a nation, for example, you get this list:
English (115)
French (35)
Arabic (24)
Spanish (20)
Russian (16)
German (9)
Mandarin (5)
Portuguese (5)
Hindi/Urdu (2)
Bengali (1)
Japanese (1)
More nations in this world speak enlish than any other language. It is the international language, much like French was when our nation was Founded. Our Founding Fathers, though bilingual, knew that if they were going to make it so everyone a nation across could understand, they would have to write the Constitution in English. Therein, they chose our national language long before we were a nation. The Declaration of Independence was written in English (Thank you Thomas Jefferson).
Though the data may not show it, worldwide, you're better off learning English and Chinese. In the United States, you have to know English, Spanish, and Chinese. Chinglish and Spanglish are important languages in the West.
I do not think it should be required to learn a language aside from English. Forcing students to do something breeds contempt, and therein does not remove language barriers.
Para mí, prefiero inglés. Pero sé hablar español también.
For me, I prefer English. But I know how to speak Spanish, too.
Nicholas Aden
Oh, if you wanna fact check, here's the site I was using:
http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm
When did I say that I was talking about most common language in the world? I think I've made myself clear that I'm talking about the United States...
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"Dancers are instruments, like a piano the choreographer plays." ~George Balanchine
*Tatiana Romanov
http://www.ethnicharvest.org/regions/50languages.html
Ok, so English is the most widely spoken language in tehe US, but that means little in comparison to the rest of the world. While i was understand that you are mearly commenting on the United States, I feel that a national language is highly overrated. We need a single language for the world. Something no one speaks now.
Nicholas Aden
That's where languages that are made up, like Esperanto (sorry if I misspelled that), come in. No one speaks them natively, but they're easy for everyone to learn.
~C
Visit my blog: www.progressiveu.org/blog/mvenus929
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Part of those numbers is due to the fact that China is the most populated nation in world.
What we need to do to preserve English and accomodate immigrants can be found in my blog under the title STOP SPEAKING ENGLISH!!!! Please feel free to comment as you wish.
english is the business language of the world....enough said
French and Chinese are pretty popular in international business as well. Just look at the labels on products you buy... a number of them have French for their second language, not Spanish.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Yes, I disagree with what you have to say about your statement. America back when the constitution was founded and created only consisted of the thirteen colonies, not all fifty states of today. Each state had its language at one point and another, where most likely it was not english. For example, Florida, Texas, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Michigan, Oklahoma, and the rest of the states, had many people who where already there and where speaking their native tongue. How can one say that English is the national language or official language of America. It's just not right, when America is based on Diverse languages. One always hears different languages where ever they live, no mater if it's Portuguese, spanish, dutch, french, russian, scottish, togaloa, or whatever non-english language, one hears it. The constitution may have been written in English, though it was not the country it is today. So one can not keep bring the past into the present, when the present and future obtain different knowledge then the past.
While everyone may be getting caught up on the technical details of the blog, I generally agree with blog. English should be made the national language and immigrants should learn the language. I think it is important for people to learn foreign languages as well, but a national language would sure put an end to some problems in the country.
For example, I heard on MPR that a CA police department has bought some speakers that say things such as "You're under arrest" in Spanish. While this probably would be quite useful considering CA's large number of Spanish speakers, I don't think it would be necessary if English was the national language. It is unfair for taxpayers to have to pay for things like speakers when every American should be taught English.
...mandate Spanish. Students should have the ability to take whatever language they want in school...or do the opposite and opt out of taking a language all together. Why should we be forced to learn the language? So we can converse with the ever-growing population of illegal Mexicans and Central American aliens. We shouldn't have to learn Spanish for them. They should have to take mandatory English classes as part of the naturalization process. Of course that would probably just make fence jumping a more tantalizing prospect. For the Mexicans or Central Americans who have entered the country legally, I still think they should learn English, but I commend them for following proper procedure.
Those who wish to learn Spanish should simply learn by their own free will. I f you're concerned about language barriers, I think that an aux. universal language such as Esperanto would be a more suitable path.
~Astroaction149
Check out my blog on the pros and cons of the universal language known as Esperanto!
http://www.progressiveu.org/204308-pros-and-cons-universal-language-not-...