Essay #4 Summary

The thesis of my paper states that English should become the official language of the United States. It should become the official language because it could bring cultures together by having a common language for everyone to share, it could give America more authority by having the title of English as the official language, and it could possibly lower costs by not having to employ translators in schools and businesses. It could also make communication easier by having a set language for governmental and educational aspects of the country and it could reduce the amount of complaints by Americans about the issue due to the problem of no set language being solved.

The argument against my thesis is that English should not become the official language of the United States. This argument is incorrect because with more and more immigrants coming to America, English could become less common. This is not good because America interacts with everyone with the English language so if many people come to America without knowing English, they could really struggle. This argument with more than likely disagree that it would bring cultures together and say that it would tear them apart by not allowing them to speak their first language. Taking away an immigrant’s first language would not happen; they could speak their first language at any time they want, but if they want to interact with government and education they would have to know English. This argument would also probably say that it would be very difficult for immigrants to have to learn English, especially if they are older, but a solution to this problem could be that, upon entry, immigrants would have to take introductory English classes provided by America.

Making English the official language of the United States would be more beneficial to the country and its people than it would be detrimental to the country and its people. The pros out-weigh the cons for making English official.

Official Language Should be English

An article that I found that could be useful to my paper is called “Toward making English the official tongue” and the main point of this article is to point out how much other languages such as Spanish are becoming more and more seen in America and could cause problems within the US. The American workforce is said to be mostly immigrant workers in the coming years and if they don’t speak English that could be a problem because English is how people speak to one another in America. Many schools across America are already having to hire more bilingual or multilingual teachers so that they can instruct many types of students instead of just the ones that speak English. This could be a problem though because costs could go up within school systems that wouldn’t be necessary if everyone had to learn English. English has always been the sole language of America and with a lot of foreign people coming into America there is a lot of miscommunication going on. There is nothing wrong with foreign people coming to America, but if they do come they should make learning English a priority. Without English people can’t communicate to government officials or in school systems very well. Also, the author states that with the push to get other languages involved with government and school systems there is so much changing that would have to go on and then it is like America is not the same. America can still be the ‘Melting Pot’ and have many cultures by assimilating, but we need to have a central language that can connect all cultures and languages for the purpose of communication.

In-Class Discussion and Answer to “Official Language” Research Question

In class, my partner and I discussed how we felt about America being an “universal nation”. We felt that if America made it’s official language English it could definitely still be considered an “universal nation”. People would still be able to come to America from all over the world, they would just make sure they know how to speak at least some English. English should become the official language of the United States. The English language is pretty much already the official language anyway; it is just an unwritten rule that America follows. Most everyone in America speaks English. Our schools teach everything in English, our huge businesses in America interact with each other in English, our government interacts with its people in English. If English was made the official language of the United States, nothing much would be different since we already use it on a regular basis. Some people, however, mostly immigrants, would probably get angry with English becoming an “official written law”. On the other hand, some immigrants may agree with having English as the official language because with America being an “universal nation,” there are many people from all over the world who speak many different languages, so they wouldn’t want another language to surpass English after they spent so much of their time trying to learn English. Also, America is with 15% of countries in the UN that don’t have a declared official language. Most people in America feel like English should be the official language.

Krauthammer believes that English should become the official language of America as well. He says that English being the most common language could change if we don’t change our assimilation norms, the way we so easily accept immigrants and don’t allow them to speak a certain language. He brings up that people who come to America have the right to be able to speak whatever language they want, but when they come to America, everything they do is going to be in English. He also says that by making English the official language of America it would not be racist. The  United States is so multicultural and a united language would bring all the cultures together as one, which is far from racist. If everyone were speaking different languages, that cultural unity may not exist.