Official Language Debate Continues in the Shadows

Some people say the US doesn't need an official language. Republicans are pushing for the adoption of English as the national language of the United States. For some reason, I find myself agreeing with them on this issue.

Every nation in the world has an official language, but the United States. If I hopped on a plane and traveled to Czech Republic, I wouldn't expect everyone in the country to learn English to pacify me. When I go to France, I don't expect to be greeted in English, and more than likely I won't be! But that's okay, because "when in Rome do as the Romans do." Right?

Admittedly, I do speak Spanish (write better than speak). It is a nice language, full of Romanticism and fluency, but it's not the language the government speaks. If you go to Washington, everyone in Congress speaks English. Even the president speaks a form of English. When Congressmen hold news conferences, it's in English. When the president delivers the State of the Union address, it's in English too. How can you expect to know anything about your adoptive country if you insist on speaking another language?

Now, I'm not saying Spanish, or any of the other minority languages that exist in this country, must die. Instead, I'm saying Spanish speaking students should learn to speak English. As a teacher, I have been required to prep my materials in Spanish, simply for one child who refused to learn English. She also knew the law was on her side, and no one could force her. I think she just liked forcing me to speak Spanish so she could laugh at me. If I moved to Mexico, I'd expect to conform to the society. I'd have my child learn Spanish. I wouldn't expect, nor require, the school to contort itself to provide English-only instruction to my child.

The funny thing is when students come to the United States to go to college, they take a test to prove they have a certain level of English language mastery before they can attend. Why should we expect any different from our public elementary and secondary schools? We don't thrust a student into a college class and then whisper to the professor, "Oh yeah, by the way, you're gonna have to learn Swahili to accommodate this new student...or else!"

Bottom line: we are all immigrants. Somewhere in our wretched pasts, a person, or family, set sail from a distant shore toward the shining horizon that is America. They knew they were coming to a British colony; perhaps they were English themselves (or if later, a former British colony). They understood the people there spoke English. It wasn't a problem for them; they'd adapt. Suddenly, immigrants today expect something different. They are become Americanized too quickly and expecting us to learn their languages. In time, if the trend continues, not only will teachers have to learn Spanish, but Chinese, and a host of other languages.

It's absurd.