Speak the speech...
I'm a big fan of the English language. I've even been known to dabble a little in it myself.
Heck, some of my best friends are English speakers.
But the Senate amendment passed Thursday that declares English the "official language'' of the U.S. strikes me as a little silly. It's as if the government had declared oxygen the official gas of America, or called for enforcing the laws of gravity.
Of course English is the language of unity and commonality and quite probably success in this country. But to make it "official'' strikes a note of petulance, like little boys putting a sign on their treehouse which says, "No girls allowed.''
Moral suasion is a much better way to encourage mastery of English than one more law on the books.
And for the xenophobes who complain about the heavily accented in our midst.
Heck, at least they are bilingual, which is more than you can say for most folks, who figure that if English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for everybody.
Heck, some of my best friends are English speakers.
But the Senate amendment passed Thursday that declares English the "official language'' of the U.S. strikes me as a little silly. It's as if the government had declared oxygen the official gas of America, or called for enforcing the laws of gravity.
Of course English is the language of unity and commonality and quite probably success in this country. But to make it "official'' strikes a note of petulance, like little boys putting a sign on their treehouse which says, "No girls allowed.''
Moral suasion is a much better way to encourage mastery of English than one more law on the books.
And for the xenophobes who complain about the heavily accented in our midst.
Heck, at least they are bilingual, which is more than you can say for most folks, who figure that if English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for everybody.
posted by Michael Riley at 12:07 PM
18 Comments:
I agree 100% with you on this. (I never thought I'd say that.) Your posting was quite funny too! English is in no danger of losing its status in the US (or in the world!) Moreover, I predict those silly "Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish" greetings will go out of style very soon on their own. That stuff is more the province of guilt-ridden, politically-correct English-speakers, not of immigrants learning English as their 2nd language.
Amen! How in awe and embarassed I am when my Asian wait person can speak 5 languages and I can speak only English.
unfortunately, the illegal immigrants involved are primarily the Mexicans who are not/prob will not be bilingual and refuse to be encouraged to do so by such p.c. methods that nickfera spoke to..they will be speaking/writing spanish, not spanish and/or english which should be the ultimate goal to co-exist in our society...we are diff. than canada , which is french/canadian...usa is not "spanish/american" and never should be..if I choose to move to russia to live out my days, I damned well better learn the language, customs and most importantly THEIR laws, just like the illegal immigrants should be required to here...or it will be "press 1 for spanish, 2 for english" !!!
mr. riley,
mr. riley,
i do not always agree with you, but that posting was truly hysterical, adn quite true.
however, nick fera, spanish is a very widely spoken language in this diverse country, and offering services in differnt languages is not 'silly' at all
dg, nick fera said 'immigrants' not 'illegal immigrants', adn it was a bit difficult to follow your babble, however it is highly bigoted to state that immigrants, especially illegal ones, do not attempt to learn english. also, you Havent moved to a different country adn learned that language, so why dont you sit back as anon. blogger no. one has and merely be in awe of those more learned than yourself you have mastered a second language.
Ne vous inquietez pas. Comme M. Riley dit, la langue anglaise n'est pas sur un terrain brulant dans l'Etats-Unis. Tout le monde parle anglais.
well, obviously, mr. "anonymous", you, too do not have command of the English language (or grammar/spelling)..your blog is filled with spelling errors! When all those illegal immigrants are taking English as a second language course, maybe you should take English as a first language course!... my point was , IF I moved to another country (and I assure you, I would not be digging under any fences in the middle of the night but would go through that country's LEGAL channels to live there)..and F.Y.I I am fluent in French but I speak English in my American country , I save the French for my relatives and don't complain that nothing is in French..also, what is next?, Spanish sign language alongside English sign language in court settings or at gov't news conferences just to be P.C.? as far as other countries learning English, that is more for their booming tourist population and US/Brit owned conglomerates over there more than anything else! It is not being a bigot to say the majority of immigrants entering at this time are, in fact illegal and of Mexican heritage...just the facts, man! goodbye..adios..au revoir...ciao
Actually, it is ms. Anonymous, and I must apologize about my spelling, you see I was blogging, not publishing an essay, so I did it rather quickly. I do not, however, see any grammar mistakes; you’ll have to forgive me. Your statement that I should take English as a first language is slightly childish and uncalled for. Your blog was also slightly difficult to understand, I think I used the word ‘babble’ before, however maybe it was just the ludicrousness of most of your statements..
I am assured, “dg”,(see, I can do silly quotes too) that you would not enter any country by illegal means, however, you might find it more readily achievable to move to other countries than it is to enter the united states.
I didn’t really say anything about other countries speaking English, for tourism or other reasons. on that subject, however, many European people speak English as well as their own language, for whatever reason , while American steadfastly resist assimilating any other culture, despite us being a nation being built on of a blend of cultures. Many Americans speak no European language, for who needs that whole other half of the world when we can be isolated in out own little island! Oh, wait, we do share this island with Canadians, Central and South Americans, but god forbid they try to enter OUR space!
I also did not say you were a bigot because you said the majority of immigrants entering at this time are illegal and of Mexican heritage, I said that stating that most immigrants do not attempt to learn English is bigoted, and highly stereotypical
Good for you, speaking French, I speak Spanish and Irish, although not fluently, and enough French to understand the gist of what nickfera was saying. I enjoy speaking all three when I can in those various countries, or in our diverse society in the usa, where people from all over make up our population, and do actually speak different languages, reflecting those mixed heritages, ya know. (that ‘ya’ there was intentional-a little slang for ya)
ms. anonymous...U.S. is an assimilation of cultures, is what we were founded on, so to state we do not want to embrace or assimilate other cultures is, in your own words "ludicrous"..my point is we assimilate those other cultures into our personal lives everyday...from our own diverse heritage and cultures passed down to us generation to generation but each ethnic group (except Hispanics/Latinos) is not moaning that their language is not required in schools or translated on signs and literature..they learned and use English in public and their own language in private..do ya capiche?
Perhaps they are 'moaning' because Spanish is the second most commonly spoklen language, and ejits like yourself DONT want 'to to embrace or assimilate other cultures'
no, they are moaning (in Spanish of course) because they want the legal US citizens(which includes legal immigrants) to pay for learning English in our tax funded schools (paid for by LEGAL US citizens from their legally-obtained paychecks)..and of course they do not want to donate any of their earnings to our tax fund to help pay for their illegal children's education ,or healthcare for that matter.....guess who is paying for them? vous et moi! And Spanish is the second most spoken language in US because of the millions of ILLEGAL Spanish-speaking immigrants assimilated in our society...sorry, am I being a bigot or politically incorrect because I state the facts and the truth? sometimes, the truth does hurt!
well, you've done a good job of turning this language disscusion into a complaint about illegal immigrants. you've also done a good job of jumping on the oh-immigrants-are-good-for-nothing-weights-on-the-system bandwagon. however, although illegal immigrants do not pay taxes, adn yes children of immigrants do recieve an education(would you have them denied one) for free, were you aware that illegal immigrants support the social security system? the social security deducted from these people's paychecks goes straight inot the system, but they are unable to ever collect on it. this exta revinue to teh tune of billions per state supports the SS system. therefore, old bats like yourself who are retired or are soon to be retired live off of their labour. try finding out a little information before degrading a whole group of people. and that IS being a stereotypical bigot.
Yes I believe English should be the "official language". We would not even be having this discussion if our government didn't disproportionately allow people from south of the border to immigrate hear over people from other countries. I don't hear Chinese, Russian, African and people of other ethnic groups complaining about having to speak English. This is one of the main reasons we have to secure our southern border, because the illegal aliens and there supporters have become emboldened by the shear size of there numbers. No longer do they want to assimilate they would rather push the border north and therefore keeping there customs, culture and language all the while benefiting from the U.S. economy.
puh-leeze! you know darn well majority of illegal immigrants are paid daily /weekly cash (under the table, or should I say "under the fence") for their labor by immoral,illegal paying employers who support this whole problem..what social security withdrawals?, you honestly believe employers hand out legal checks to illegal, undocumented workers who then go to the local bank and cash them..majority do not..truth is, we do not even know total of millions daily being paid under the table illegally...this is why majority of real Americans are incensed about the whole fiasco..and yes, I do object to paying for illegal immigrants' illegal children's education when most Americans are working 2-3 jobs themselves -legally, to pay for their legal children's education/college,medical care, etc... come on...wake up and smell the illegal activity!
this has nothing to do with your blogs, but with your blog photo...suggestion: smaller eyeglass rims would be much more flattering for your face shape and would make you appear at least 5-10 yrs. younger!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Now lets be fair to all people
Press 1 English press 2 Spanish press 3 Chinese press 4 Russian press 5 French press 6 Finish press 7 Italian press 8 German press 9 Danish press 10 Irish etc.
there should be a rule againt certain people of any age group/ethnicity/ class butchering our english language.
ebonics? do you know what that is -- yeah, well ..
i don`t know.
but this was funny
kudos
Post a Comment
<< Home