Which countries have an "Official Language" codified into their laws?

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Look at those two countries. Greece for sure. But generally homogenous. It has never been that way in the United States. There have always been areas, sometimes whole counties, where English was not in use. Where I live, schools and church services were conducted in German till after the Civil War. And my sons often talked about the lunchroom at their high school. At least five languages being spoken at the various table of cliches. A resource they failed to tap.

At the inner-city school where I taught, the students talking at lunch in another language also were the ones failing every subject because they spoke no English.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

It is called serving your constituents

If they are not citizens, they cannot vote for you and therefore are NOT your constituents. Once again, your limited intellect fails you.

 

[Flopper]

And why shouldn't we?

Many countries have official languages that are designated by their government or codified into law, including:

• England: Has English as its official language
• Gibraltar: Has English as its sole official language
• Akrotiri and Dhekelia: Has English as its sole official language
• Ireland: Has English as one of its official languages
• Malta: Has English as one of its official languages
• Northern Ireland: Has English as one of its official languages
• Scotland: Has English as one of its official languages
• Wales: Has English as one of its official languages
• Isle of Man: Has English as one of its official languages
• Jersey: Has English as one of its official languages
• Guernsey: Has English as one of its official languages

Also Armenia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Botswana, Brazil, Czech Republic, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Namibia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam.

All of the above have a national language which is designated by their country.

List of official languages by country and territory - Wikipedia

The U.S. is highly linguistically diverse, with over 350 languages spoken. While English is the most common, many Americans speak other languages. Making English the official language wouldn’t significantly change much, as most government documents, media, and publications are already in English. Translation services would likely still be available for common languages due to the country's diversity.

I think there are a lot more important things for congress to to than this.

 

[Flopper]

You get the contradiction between paragraphs. Anyone with a formal education can speak English, only the ignorant can't and despite Biden, we don't want them in this country.

I think we want the 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars that tourist bring to US.

 

[Meathead]

I think we want the 2.4 trillion U.S. dollars that tourist bring to US.

Rich foreigners that tour the US almost always speak English. They are not the problem, rather it is the refuse and criminals from failed states that are.

 

[Polishprince]

English is the default “official language” of the world.
International business is conducted in English. People who learn a second language speak English.

Making English the official language will not force people to speak English.
What it will do is disenfranchise people who speak another language from getting official information from the government.

The people who don't understand English language laws can hire a lawyer to explain what the information means if they don't want to rely on a translation.

 

[Unkotare]

In some countries with official state languages they restrict schools (even private) with education on other languages.

The US is not "some countries."

 

[Unkotare]

The people who don't understand English language laws can hire a lawyer to explain what the information means if they don't want to rely on a translation.

And those who can't afford a lawyer? What's that line from the Miranda Rights?

 

[Unkotare]

I don't believe English is as common, or desired, internationally, as you think. From my experience, Europeans usually seek French or German as a second language, English falls third on the list.

English is the most popular second language in Europe.

 

[Trickster]

You missed Denmark. They require you to be able to speak and understand the language if you want to stay or live there.

Even Danish babies struggle with that.

 

[Unkotare]

Even Danish babies struggle with that.

ALL babies do.

 

[Flopper]

Rich foreigners that tour the US almost always speak English. They are not the problem, rather it is the refuse and criminals from failed states that are.

After traveling abroad for a few weeks, you will love to hear your native tongue spoken. Countries that discourage people from speaking any language other than the offical language are never very welcoming to tourists. Becoming unilingual is often the first step toward isolationism.

The Swiss learned many years ago that if you want to be the world's innkeeper, becoming multilingual is a first step.

 

[Zavulon]

The US is not "some countries."

Who knows? People are the same everywhere.

 

[Unkotare]

Who knows? People are the same everywhere.

Countries are not all the same.

 

[Unkotare]

After traveling abroad for a few weeks, you will love to hear your native tongue spoken. ...

More pretentious bullshit.

 

[Zavulon]

Countries are not all the same.

As if the USA never were xenophobic and racist. And as if the USA doesn't support those nationalistic things in other countries, like Ukraine and Baltic state.

 

[Trickster]

ALL babies do.

"Research has suggested that Danish-learning children lag behind in early language acquisition. The phenomenon has been attributed to the opaque phonetic structure of Danish, which features an unusually large number of non-consonantal sounds."

 

[Unkotare]

Speaking English is not a requirement to BE an American citizen. Demonstrating some degree of facility with the language is one of the requirements for BECOMING a US citizen if one was not born here.

 

[Unkotare]

As if the USA never were xenophobic and racist. ...

The US is perhaps the least racist and xenophobic nation on earth.

 

[Unkotare]

"Research has suggested that Danish-learning children lag behind in early language acquisition. The phenomenon has been attributed to the opaque phonetic structure of Danish, which features an unusually large number of non-consonantal sounds."

Quotation marks with no citation mean nothing.