Samofvt
Diamond Member
- Aug 9, 2021
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There are many beautiful languages in the world. I always have a good amount of respect when I hear another language besides English being spoken. The second most common language in this country, Spanish, has many qualities that are intriguing and poetic, although many English speaking people find the language to be superfluous. I've heard some Spanish speaking people go on for minutes describing something that would take one sentence in English 
Nowhere in the Constitution is there anything about English being a national language. If you do a search on this topic, the results seem to have been very much skewed in favor of NOT declaring English as the official language in the USA. This is a big change from what I've perceived in the years before internet search engines. I wonder if these results are being skewed by big tech companies (operated mostly by non-American, non-English speakers) and those with deep pockets who sell language teaching services.
The truth is that having multiple languages can cause dis-trust among the citizens. It's human nature: If you hear someone speaking a language you don't understand, you immediately wonder what they are talking about and if maybe they are saying something "behind your back". This is one of the biggest reasons in favor of a single national language. For many, many years, basic English competency was a requirement for acquiring citizenship. My mother came to this country not knowing a word of English (only French), but she explained that she did not regret for a moment the fact that she was required to learn English in school.
Why shouldn't the USA declare English the national language and require basic competency among its citizens? People are free to speak anything they want at home or even in the workplace, that should be a fact. But doesn't it make sense to require a common language to foster better communication?
Nowhere in the Constitution is there anything about English being a national language. If you do a search on this topic, the results seem to have been very much skewed in favor of NOT declaring English as the official language in the USA. This is a big change from what I've perceived in the years before internet search engines. I wonder if these results are being skewed by big tech companies (operated mostly by non-American, non-English speakers) and those with deep pockets who sell language teaching services.
The truth is that having multiple languages can cause dis-trust among the citizens. It's human nature: If you hear someone speaking a language you don't understand, you immediately wonder what they are talking about and if maybe they are saying something "behind your back". This is one of the biggest reasons in favor of a single national language. For many, many years, basic English competency was a requirement for acquiring citizenship. My mother came to this country not knowing a word of English (only French), but she explained that she did not regret for a moment the fact that she was required to learn English in school.
Why shouldn't the USA declare English the national language and require basic competency among its citizens? People are free to speak anything they want at home or even in the workplace, that should be a fact. But doesn't it make sense to require a common language to foster better communication?
