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English is pretty much the unofficially official language in most places across the US already. Doesn't mean you can't use other languages at home or even in places of business - it just means that government communications are in English.
When I have traveled to Europe and Asia, it was a nice convenience to have many things in English. However, if I were to plan on living somewhere else for an extended period, I would have put more effort into learning the local language. Likewise, I think immigrants here (legal or not) would benefit from learning the prevailing - if not official - language used here.
It's starting, though. When I worked in retail, I would often see families come in where the children were the interpreters for their parents or grandparents. It's kinda sad, though, when you meet someone who has lived in the US for 30 plus years but can't understand the most basic English.
As far as making immigrants, legal or not, feel welcome, I don't think it will make a difference. People aren't going to cross the Rio Grande in the dark of night, make their way all the way up to Maryland, and then be all like "WTF, no signs in Spanish?".
On November 3, 1998, English became the official government language of Alaska, and it had absolutely nothing to do with illegal immigration. The reason 70% of the people voted to make the official government language of Alaska English was because there are 22 native languages in Alaska, and it is cost prohibitive to print every government document in those 22 languages in addition to English.
There are of course many exceptions to this - the government may use a language other than English when necessary for the following purposes:
to communicate health and safety information or when an emergency requires the use of a language other than English,
to teach another language to students proficient in English,
to teach English to students of limited English proficiency,
to promote international relations, trade, commerce, tourism or sporting events,
to protect the constitutional and legal rights of criminal defendants,
to serve the needs of the judicial system in civil and criminal cases in compliance with court rules and orders,
to investigate criminal activity and protect the rights of crime victims,
to the extent necessary to comply with federal law, including the Native American Languages Act,
to attend or observe religious ceremonies,
to use non-English terms of art, names, phrases, or expressions included as part of communications otherwise in English, and
to communicate orally with constituents by elected public officials and their staffs, if the public official or staff member is already proficient in a language other than English.
English is pretty much the unofficially official language in most places across the US already. Doesn't mean you can't use other languages at home or even in places of business - it just means that government communications are in English.
When I have traveled to Europe and Asia, it was a nice convenience to have many things in English. However, if I were to plan on living somewhere else for an extended period, I would have put more effort into learning the local language. Likewise, I think immigrants here (legal or not) would benefit from learning the prevailing - if not official - language used here.
It's starting, though. When I worked in retail, I would often see families come in where the children were the interpreters for their parents or grandparents. It's kinda sad, though, when you meet someone who has lived in the US for 30 plus years but can't understand the most basic English.
As far as making immigrants, legal or not, feel welcome, I don't think it will make a difference. People aren't going to cross the Rio Grande in the dark of night, make their way all the way up to Maryland, and then be all like "WTF, no signs in Spanish?".
Excellent, excellent post and I agree wholeheartedly. Making English our official langauge on any level encourages "immigrants" to learn English and assimilate. The anti-official English supporters try to claim that will mean that immigrants or anyone else will be prevented from speaking another language and that simply isn't true. I guess it's ok for other countries to have an official language but not us?
On November 3, 1998, English became the official government language of Alaska, and it had absolutely nothing to do with illegal immigration. The reason 70% of the people voted to make the official government language of Alaska English was because there are 22 native languages in Alaska, and it is cost prohibitive to print every government document in those 22 languages in addition to English.
There are of course many exceptions to this - the government may use a language other than English when necessary for the following purposes:
to communicate health and safety information or when an emergency requires the use of a language other than English,
to teach another language to students proficient in English,
to teach English to students of limited English proficiency,
to promote international relations, trade, commerce, tourism or sporting events,
to protect the constitutional and legal rights of criminal defendants,
to serve the needs of the judicial system in civil and criminal cases in compliance with court rules and orders,
to investigate criminal activity and protect the rights of crime victims,
to the extent necessary to comply with federal law, including the Native American Languages Act,
to attend or observe religious ceremonies,
to use non-English terms of art, names, phrases, or expressions included as part of communications otherwise in English, and
to communicate orally with constituents by elected public officials and their staffs, if the public official or staff member is already proficient in a language other than English.
This is precisely the reason that governments nationwide should do this. There shouldn't be a single government document published in Spanish. Illegal/legal immigrants should get no special privilege.....the privilege is living in the United States of America. Adapt or fail.
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