As we discussed this week in class, by the year 2040 Sociologists and Cultural Anthropologist predict that the dominant language spoken in the United States will be SPANISH. Since you all know that we do not have an OFFICIAL language in our country right now, should we adopt one before 2040? Thoughts.....
06 May 2011
English as the Official Language?
As we discussed this week in class, by the year 2040 Sociologists and Cultural Anthropologist predict that the dominant language spoken in the United States will be SPANISH. Since you all know that we do not have an OFFICIAL language in our country right now, should we adopt one before 2040? Thoughts.....
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I think that english should deffinitely be the official language of the United States. Every time we travel to a foreign country, we have to learn their language, or know somebody who speaks it, just to be able to function in their society. So why shouldn't English be our official language? The majority of people in the USA speak english, and the original colonies did come from england... So I don't see why we haven't adopted it as our language already. Even though spanish may be the dominant language by 2040, english should be our official one. In addition to this idea though, anybody who is coming to the United States from another country should know english, which is why I feel like it should be our official language. Our country, our language. If you want to live here, learn it.
I feel that by the year 2040 the United States will NOT adopt an official language. Due to the constant rate of immigration, the United States has become more diverse. Ultimately, we are a bilingual country considering most of our language has been based upon English or Spanish considering the historical significance in their immigration to America. The most prominent reason I feel that this radical change will not occur is because America is known to be a "tossed salad" and our culture embodies many ethnic groups that use other languages. If we fast forward to 2040, we will most likely encounter many dominant language changes. As long as we are continuously diversifying our country there will never be ONE dominant language in America.
I do not think that we need to make english our official language, I think that by not having an official language it allows other ethnic groups coming to the United States to maintain their own culture. This will also act as a way for americans to be exposed to other cultures. I do however think that everyone should learn to speak english. I believe that all official documents should remain being published in english, and not another language like spanish. I also think that all classes taught in schools should be taught in english, and if you want to live in the united states you should be required to learn english in school. It however doesn't need to be the official language, so that people can still speak and use their own languages and still be able to function in our society.
Being a country founded by immigrants means that people of all languages live here. Still, in the beginning we fought Great Britain for our Independence. I believe that our country should make English an official language of the U.S. Taking into consideration the dominant language in 2040, Spanish should be made our othert official language. Many countries have more than one official language, so why not make the two most spoken languages in the US our official languages.
I think that English should definitely be the official language of the United States because it is what all of the signs are written in, and the british were the first to discover American so it has stuck with us for all these hundreds of years. If Spanish people discovered America first then yes it would be more reasonable for the official language for the United States. I know I have people coming in to my work not knowing one word of English. They either have their kids translate or just keep talking like I'm supposed to know what they are saying. It does really frustrate me on this whole issue because of this whole controversy with immigrants and not knowing English. I feel that if you want to come into my country and work here, then you have to know English, point blank.
I strongly believe that the English language should be named the official language for the United States before the year 2040. If a foreign person comes to the United States to go to school, typically, they are placed in a special program to learn how to speak English. The majority of the people that live in the United States know how to speak English, and use it as their primary language. Although there are some people who live in the United States who don't know how to speak English, there is always someone who is related to them who can translate for them. Knowing how to speak English is vital for living in American society because no matter where you go in the United States, although different places have their own lingo (southern, northern accents), English will always be spoken by someone. I agree with Demetri when he says "if you want to live here, learn it" because it would be a challenge living in a place where you can't understand anyone.
I don't like to agree with the idea of needing to choose one language for the United States because I believe that everyone should be able to use their own language, however, it would be much easier for everyone if there was one official language. Everyone would be able to communicate much more easily all over the country if there was one official language. Going to restaurants and stores- anywhere- would be fine for everyone because everyone would be able to communicate and understand one another. I wish that cultural pluralism would be an option, but because there are so many different languages spoken due to the many different races, that would be extremely difficult.
I do believe that people should be allowed to speak whatever language they want though, but there should just be one overall spoken language that everyone should know.
When people first started to sail over to America, and created a place where anyone is welcome. We opened our doors to many different types of people, while maybe excluding some, and limiting the amount of people allowed over, we still welcomed them all. America was a place to blend everyone together, and it should still be considered that. But, I strongly believe that we should have English be our official language. We all live in America, so we should all speak the same language. To be able to communicate, and function properly in society, you need to have a basic of connection. Speaking the same language, is the sense of connection that America needs. While I can see what people like Pieter are saying, that having no official language preserves ethnic groups, I still believe that if ethnic groups were endangered,, that they would still be able to survive even if they speak English. People don’t need to primarily speak and comprehend English, they just need to know enough to be able to communicate.
I do not believe that the United States should adopt English as the official language by the year 2040. I don't believe it should be adopted because since the U.S. is a "tossed salad" of different races/ethnicities that speak different languages and more individuals are immigrating to the U.S., it would be almost impossible to have everyone learn the same language. It would also prevent people that speak other languages to continue speaking them where they please. Since the U.S. was founded, people have learned about other cultures and their traditions starting with the languages that they speak. Adopting an official language would slowly prevent this learning process from continuing which might cause either some traditions to not continue or people not having knowledge of other cultures from around the world.
I do not believe that the United States should adopt English as the official language by the year 2040. I don't believe it should be adopted because since the U.S. is a "tossed salad" of different races/ethnicities that speak different languages and more individuals are immigrating to the U.S., it would be almost impossible to have everyone learn the same language. It would also prevent people that speak other languages to continue speaking them where they please. Since the U.S. was founded, people have learned about other cultures and their traditions starting with the languages that they speak. Adopting an official language would slowly prevent this learning process from continuing which might cause either some traditions to not continue or people not having knowledge of other cultures from around the world.
Yes i think that english should be the official language becuase each country has their own main language. When the first colonists came to America, they didnt speak Spanish, but they spoke English. Even though there are both a majority of Spanish people and English people, the English language should always come first. Just like the law about having an American flag above any other flag, English should be the first one. When 2040 comes, I think that the population will be bigger and that will cause more different languages to adapt to different parts of the US. No matter what the future brings us, English should be the official language.
No i don't think the United states should make
Spanish there primary language. I think that One of the things that make America such a great place is the fact that people can speak any language they want. It would be inconvenient for people who don't know spanish to learn it. If we absolutely had to adopt an language then i think it should be English as opposed to Spanish.
I firmly believe the official language of the United States should be English. Most people in America speak English, our public school systems are mainly taught in English. Most highway signs and official forms are in English. And finally our founding fathers and our Declaration of Independence is written in English. Notice a pattern yet? Some may argue that not having an official language may not feel right for immigrants however I disagree. I come from 2 immigrant parents and they both learned to speak English just to not only fit in with American society but to function in American society. In conclusion, if America were to adopt an official language it should be English, the language of our Founding Fathers.
I don't feel that the United States should adopt an official language whether it be English or Spanish. After all these years we haven't had an official language, so why force people to learn a language that is one of the hardest to learn, in order to live here.
in my opinion i do believe that we should not adopt an official language. America is known to be a mixing pot and that there are mutiple languages being spoken in america. I think thats what makes us so unique and it should stay like that
I truly think that the official language of the United States should be made English and we should do this way before 2040 then they predict Spanish will be the language of the USA. All of the official documents of the United States are in English and when we gained independence from Britain and first stared they decided to do everything in English, this would have been the time for them to change it if they wanted a different language. Additionally, when you are driving in the U.S all the signs and directions are in English. If an immigrant comes to America they should be able to know the language so they can get an education and be able to defend themselves. Next, our education system is learned in English so if you want to learn and if you live in America you would have to get educated in English and not Spanish. Lastly I think that we should have a universal language that no matter where you are from and what ethnicity you are we can all communicate with no barriers.
I don't think the U.S. needs to have an official language. Not having one leaves the door open for foreigners, allowing America to continue to be the diverse nation that it is. Also, English is already sort of an "unofficial official" laguage of the U.S., as it is pretty much used everywhere and immigrants are already expected to learn it eventually. Basically, it works the way it is now and there's no need to change it.
After thinking about how not having an official language might affect my family, close friends and I, I believe that there is no urgent need to set English as the official language in this country. I say this because regardless if the dominant group in the country is Spanish speaking I think that there will always be a large enough group of English speakers in order to maintain themselves. I was thinking about the whole situation and there really would be no harm done to the country if we were to not adopt English as our official language. It's not like all of the street signs or any other signs in the country would be taken down and replaced with Spanish signs. However, if we were to adopt English as our official language it would be mostly benefit to the individuals who are traveling to this country. There are many people within our borders who live life without knowing a word of English and it would only be easier on them if they are taught the language so that they may be able to communicate effectively with others. Overall I think that it is not necessarily something that needs to be done unless we're afraid of being outnumbered by people who speak a different language.
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