Posted on 05/20/2018 1:55:26 PM PDT by sodpoodle
Aaron Schlossberg, a lawyer in New York, was caught on camera berating staff members of a restaurant for speaking Spanish with customers.
A lot of multilingual countries promote an official language, but the United States has never done so with English. In fact, the US has no official language.
"The Founding Fathers didn't see a need to declare one," Dr. Wayne Wright, a professor of language and literacy at Purdue University, told CNN.
"English was pretty much the dominant language of the United States at the time and they didn't want to offend their fellow Americans who helped fight for independence."
In fact, common languages spoken throughout the 13 colonies included Dutch, French and German, not to mention the many languages spoken by Native Americans. Still, trying to force people in the US to speak English is not new.
Enslaved Africans were forbidden from using their native languages (and at the same time forbidden from learning how to read and write English) because slaveowners feared they would incite rebellions.
Native American children were forced to attend boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their own languages. And many Japanese schools started by immigrants in Hawaii were forced to shut down during World War II.
'English is not under threat'
There's no question that English is the de facto language of the United States.
It's the language of government documents, court proceedings and business contracts. Immigrants feel an immense pressure to learn it. Most people in the US only speak English. But that hasn't stopped some lawmakers from trying to ensure English is used above all other languages.
In 1981, US Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California introduced an amendment to do just that. It failed.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
American is the official language.
“FYI: English isn’t the official language of the United States”
That’s why a second term is needed from Trump.
Neither is Newspeak.
Yes
The Constitution wasn’t written in Spanish or German.
Had a visiting lecturer from Australia tell us, among other things, that Americans do not speak English. The example he gave (sternly) was, “We cook dinner, you FIX it.”
It is if you want to make money or cash your welfare check...
“...Be able to read, write, and speak basic English...”
I know it’s silly to expect our government to obey their own rules and regulations, but the above is one of the requirements for U.S. citizenship....
Seems to me that, by this law, we declare English as the official American language...
https://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-history
What are the origins of the English Language?
The history of English is conventionally, if perhaps too neatly, divided into three periods usually called Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. The earliest period begins with the migration of certain Germanic tribes from the continent to Britain in the fifth century A.D., though no records of their language survive from before the seventh century, and it continues until the end of the eleventh century or a bit later. By that time Latin, Old Norse (the language of the Viking invaders), and especially the Anglo-Norman French of the dominant class after the Norman Conquest in 1066 had begun to have a substantial impact on the lexicon, and the well-developed inflectional system that typifies the grammar of Old English had begun to break down.
Well stated;)
Thanks...
Also...Since English is required for U.S. citizenship and U.S. citizenship is required to be able to vote, why are ballots available printed in Spanish???
It seems to me that learning to speak English has been one of the talking points for the pro-legalization politicians, in addition to paying fines and back taxes.
I can close my eyes and almost hear the words coming out of phony Rubio’s mouth: “...learn to speak English...”
Every state that still can should make English its official language.
Why is this article written in English?
I just love getting lectures from a guy named Harmeet about what our language should be.
In California ballots are printed in
English
Spanish
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Tagalog
Vietnamese
Anybody want to buy Harmeet Kaur a ticket back home?
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