United States should designate English as the country’s official language. In addition, all official documents should only be available in the official language of the country.
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Fluent English should be spoken before one can become a US citizen
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In light of this information you provided, I have modified my comment to show what I consider to be essential to keep the integrity of our sovereignty.
Please note that there is the 55/15 rule, which I consider should be removed.
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I’d make exceptions for states close to Mexico and French-speaking Canada.
How I see it is that exceptions are open to interpretation and when exceptions start to be made, it becomes the law of the land like we have seen happening in our country.
I don’t think Canada or Mexico would make an exception for US citizens.
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First I absolutely agree that America’s national language should be in federal and state records as English.
The first colonists carried English to North America in 1607, however other settlers did not speak English.
English-only schooling was introduced during both World Wars beginning in 1917 it was otherwise taught in German and English.
All the whining from foreigners should learn that the Europeans that arrived between 1459-1850 English wasn’t their originating nation’s language unless they came from England.
English was chosen in America because it was a way for all foreigners to communicate with each other and English who started schools taught English.
Here in the USA:
Scottish & Irish spoke Gaelic but in 1750 the learned English
Spain spoke Spanish and *never spoke English
French spoke French, but in 1830 learned English
Norwegians spoke Norwegian, but learned English in 1917
Russians spoke Russian, but learned English in 1882
Germans spoke German, but learned English in 1917
Dutch spoke Dutch, but learned English in 1750
Chinese spoke Chinese, but learned English in 1818
Japanese spoke Japanese, but learned English in 1868
Africans spoke Yom, Fon and Yoruba, but learned English over the span of 1637-1795 depending on arrival.
Mexicans before the arrival of the Spanish, spoke hundreds of indigenous languages and dialects were spoken.
and none of those above languages are similar.
So English was the official language established coast to coast since 1850 if you’re referencing first European settlers to California, Oregon and Washington. But if you’re referencing the East coast it would probably be 1917 because schools stopped teaching in German.
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Cease and desist printing and mailing of government notices in language other than English.
Calculate savings to taxpayer based on cost of manpower, ink, paper, printing and mailing for every government notice.
Require citizenship test include passage of 8th grade level English reading comprehension test.
16.5% or 1.35B of 8.2B global population speak English.
Translation option available online of all government notices. Individuals can print at their own cost. Local libraries in CA benefit is $5.00 credit daily towards printing.
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I’m not sure where you saw the word “fluent” on my post…basic understanding of the language is good enough, having an accent is not an issue, even broken English is better than not even try, which is what we are dealing with these days.
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Did you know that it was recently reported that so many cultures have come together in the Miami area that a new language has begun to form. That’s pretty cool and we get to see it happen. The Pennsylvania Dutch (Deutsche) have their own language but its sort of an Americanized german, then there’s the Cajuns down in Louisiana speaking Creole. All really cool.
If we are talking about record keeping in something like the national archives, its already happening. But I think I kind of like the cultural richness different languages provide
The country could probably save billions of dollars each year. No more printing or publishing of language specific webpages, manuals, instructions, ATM configurations (less maintenance), No need for bilingual teachers or interpreters.
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[More studies of Greek and Latin because those are projenitor languages.]
Then you are asking immigrant’s to wait beyond their probational 5 years to be able to become citizens. As being “*fluent” is not the same for everyone. Accents affect many aspects of speech and English requires more words to get your point across. Some native speakers of foreign languages could never be completely “*fluent” in English as they never (as a child) learned English inflexions or grammatical features. Those are much harder to learn as an adult because the speech centers are already formed around the mother language.
*“According to various sources, fluency in a language is defined as the ability to speak and write quickly and easily, with a near-native level of proficiency. A fluent speaker can communicate effectively and accurately, using complex grammar and vocabulary, and understanding nuances such as idioms, colloquialisms, and cultural references.”
I am sorry it posted to the wrong person.
Absolutely agree , however, having an official language if the country is paramount to our sovereignty. Look at Quebec, Canada in the 1970s. A nightmare! They forced hundreds of businesses out because they forced another language to be its official one! All documents signs and even filings had to be converted to French . Forced people to its will.
Everyone would be free to communicate in any language but when it comes to our public signs, government documentation and even public education (especially College level) that is all English.
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Do you intend to disrespect Spanish and other languages Americans speak? I think America is stronger when we understand other cultures and can work and talk out disputes with other peoples. Communication is key to creating wealth and keeping the peace.
Just to be clear, there is no disrespect for trying to keep the identity of our country. If we, US citizens immigrate to any other country in which the official language isn’t English, we do not dare to ask for them to learn our language, in the contrary, we do whatever it takes to learn their language.
I have a question for you sir, do you feel that is disrespectful for Mexico to have Spanish as their official language or, do you think Canada is disrespectful for having English and French as their official languages?
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Nope. But there is an English-only movement and there is a Deport-Illegals movement, so in the interest of discussion it’ll be valuable to clarify. Americans speak 350 languages. Individual states have already declared (or declined) English as the “official” language. I can’t help but wonder if this is a solution in search of a problem.
The 55/15 rule (designed for immigrants):
I believe you are reading too much into it. Every country has the right to establish their official language, and that has nothing to do whether other languages can be spoken in addition to the official language of the country. In addition, I’m not sure why you felt the necessity of adding the deportation topic to this discussion.
This could also be listed under Economy. It is not only discriminatory to have documents in other languages because we do not translate to ALL languages. Try finding Irish as one that they will provide a translation for. That being said,
According to recent data, the United States spends approximately $6.6 billion on translation services annually, making it a significant market within the global language services industry.
English IS the official language of the US. I see nothing wrong with speaking multiple languages. It actually should be encouraged and keep being taught in schools. It has many benefits. I wish I could speak other languages besides English and Spanish.