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Should English Be A Mandatory Language?

Panda

Panda

42?
Premium Member
whereismynotecard said:
We should offer free English Language classes to foriegn people, if they want to take them, but I don't think they should be forced to... If they don't feel it is important, then why make them??
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This is quite common over here. Most colleges offer night classes in English for none English speakers. It is a great idea.
 
Mister_T

Mister_T

Forum Relic
Premium Member
mball1297 said:
Your question is should they be done that way. My answer is no.
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Well fortunately, the government thinks it should be done that way too.

mabll1297 said:
There are plenty of multicultural countrys that have an official language, Canada is one, France is another, England is another. You can have the two things together. An official language does not exclude multiculturalism. :)
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I agree. :) But not having an official language doesn't create divsion, either.

mball1297 said:
You're right. Now, as to the original question "Should English be the official language", the answer is yes because it would make all of that easier for the majority of Americans. I can' get much clearer than that.
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It would only be easier for all the Americans who wanted to speak English, only. All of Nebraska doesn't need to learn Spanish because it's not relevant to their region. Just like all of California doesn't need to speak English because it's not relevant to their region. Again, it's region specific, not nation specific and the government agrees.

maball1297 said:
Exactly, so those people in Chinatown who moved to the U.S. where most people speak English should have learned English to fit in instead of forcing people like that "country boy" to learn their language.
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People in Chinatown speak Mandarin and it's the dominant langauge in that region. They don't need to learn English. If you don't want to speak Mandarin, there are plenty of other place in the U.S. for you to go. :)

mball1297 said:
It's only region specific because the people in those regions didn't follow your rule to begin with. Since they didn't do it yet, it's not too much to ask for them to do it now.
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Um, yes they did follow my rule. Instead of moving to an area where people only speak English, they moved to an area where people speak Mandarin where they didn't have to conform (region specific in action!) Everyone who speaks a different langauge in the U.S. has this option, that's the beauty of the U.S. :)
 
Mister_T

Mister_T

Forum Relic
Premium Member
DallasApple said:
I think for the persons own good they would benefit by speaking English...Just like I know full good and well I'de be smart to learn Spanish here in Texas..Im just a lazy procrastinator!

Blessings

Dallas
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Region Specific: Exhibit A. Thank you for providing such a lovely example. :)
 
Magic Man

Magic Man

Reaper of Conversation
lilithu said:
I defer to the wisdom of our Founding Fathers who very specifically did NOT institute an official language, even when it was suggested.
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So, our founding fathers were smarter than the founding fathers of most European nations?
 
lilithu

lilithu

The Devil's Advocate
mball1297 said:
Exactly, but how do they communicate with others here? Your great grandma is a perfect example. Good for her! She taught herself English, why? Because it was important for her to communicate with others here.
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There is no doubt as to whether it is beneficial to learn English in the U.S. Of course it is. The question is whether or not it should be mandatory. Meaning, if you're at the DMV and you can't read the forms in English, tuff cookies.

If we make English mandatory, what we are in essence saying is that people who can't speak English are not welcome. That goes completely against the principles upon which this nation was founded.
 
Panda

Panda

42?
Premium Member
Mister_T said:
Prepare to have your reality shattered because the USA has been doing this for a few hundred years now. ;)
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Did you know Scotland has three languages? English, Gaelic and Scots. Three languages and about 5million people however everything is done in English. It is expected that everyone is fluent in these languages even in the regions where it is not the predominate language. It works far better than people not being able to communicate with one another.

Mister_T said:
And that is to their benefit. But there are hundreds of languages being spoken in the USA and while it's not uncommon for someone to be bi-lingual in the United States, it's certainly not feesable for every citizen to learn the hundreds of languages being spoken here, especially if a particular language is not relevant to the region you live in.
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I think you will find that in the USA (and UK) there are far LESS bi-lingual people (proportionally) than in say France or Germany.
But it is simply a waste of time effort and money to translate all official documents into more than one language when it is much simpler to have an official language that all citizens are required to be able to speak.
 
Magic Man

Magic Man

Reaper of Conversation
lilithu said:
There is no doubt as to whether it is beneficial to learn English in the U.S. Of course it is. The question is whether or not it should be mandatory. Meaning, if you're at the DMV and you can't read the forms in English, tuff cookies.

If we make English mandatory, what we are in essence saying is that people who can't speak English are not welcome. That goes completely against the principles upon which this nation was founded.
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I'll just ask you the same question. Would you support a presidential candidate who couldn't speak English?
 
lilithu

lilithu

The Devil's Advocate
mball1297 said:
So, our founding fathers were smarter than the founding fathers of most European nations?
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:rolleyes: We have certain principles upon which this country is based, and yes, a number of them are different from other countries. I for one like our principles. If you want to take that as us being "better" than other countries, that's your prerogative. But somehow I doubt you would be raising this objection if we were talking about a principle with which you agree.
 
DallasApple

DallasApple

Depends Upon My Mood..
I think I would question the intelligence of someone who wanted to run for president here but didnt care enough to learn English..I mean I think I would want to know why..But I suppose if the reaosning behind it made enough sense to me and in fact he seemed qualified I see no reason why I wouldnt vote for him/her...Of course he would need a good translator with him at all times so that HELLO I could understand what he was speaking..I wouldnt want to have to be "forced" myself to learn his/her language..

Blessings

Dallas
 
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