6/29 Rant

[OCBob]

There has been a great deal of debate recently about creating a National Language in the United States. This has been tied to the ongoing issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. There is a strong division, nearly every single person in the country has an opinion on this issue. Many say yes, we need to have a national language, and that language must be English. Others say no, we are a melting pot, and need to be able to communicate in many different languages. Well, just like everyone else, I have an opinion too.

Many nations have a national language. A language is part of the culture of a people, just as food and dress are. A national language is used to ensure that all political and legal discourse is carried out in the same tongue. This levels the playing field so to speak. This is not to say that all the citizens of the country use this language as their primary language, but all official proceedings are presented in this language. This would include things such as street signs and postal procedures. In this respect it seems as if English is our national language, but this is not the case, if only because it is not official. In China Mandarin has been designated as the official language, though much of the population speaks other dialects, notably Cantonese. In the Philippines a Filipino language based on Tagalog is the official language, and is noted as such in the constitution of the country. Canada is a little different (but we already knew that didn’t we?) as they have two official languages, English and French. This is due to Quebec and their desire to remain French and the desire of the rest of the Canadians to let them.

I propose that yes, we do need a national language in the United States. But this language should not be English, it should be American. There are differences you know. Many words don’t even have the same meaning in the United States and in Great Britain. Take for instance “cheerioâ€￾. In England this is a greeting, while here in the US it is a breakfast cereal. If you were to go into a restaurant for breakfast in England you may not get what you really had in mind if you were to speak American. Say you wanted a nice southern style breakfast, maybe a couple of biscuits and some jelly for them. Well, in English if you asked for biscuits and jelly you would actually get cookies and jello! Now, what kind of breakfast would that be? Here a boot is to put on your foot, in English it is a storage area in the back of your car that you could use to put your dirty boots in! It is obvious that English and American are not the same languages, so I say we should speak American in America. I was even able to find an English to American dictionary which supports my position that while very similar these are actually different languages.

And another thing that bothers me about this whole English thing is that every year through the hard work and dedication of brilliant Americans, we actually give the English words to add to their dictionary. For free! Just in the last couple of years alone we gave them many new words to use, among them podcast , cybercrime, hazmat, and popup just to name a few. When was the last time the English actually added any useful words? I don’t know for sure, but I would have to guess it was somewhere in the dark ages, it was probably “plagueâ€￾. We are about to celebrate the 230th anniversary of our independence from Britain, isn’t it about time we take credit for our own culture?

 

[HDVIPER]

There has been a great deal of debate recently about creating a National Language in the United States. This has been tied to the ongoing issue of immigration, both legal and illegal. There is a strong division, nearly every single person in the country has an opinion on this issue. Many say yes, we need to have a national language, and that language must be English. Others say no, we are a melting pot, and need to be able to communicate in many different languages. Well, just like everyone else, I have an opinion too.

Many nations have a national language. A language is part of the culture of a people, just as food and dress are. A national language is used to ensure that all political and legal discourse is carried out in the same tongue. This levels the playing field so to speak. This is not to say that all the citizens of the country use this language as their primary language, but all official proceedings are presented in this language. This would include things such as street signs and postal procedures. In this respect it seems as if English is our national language, but this is not the case, if only because it is not official. In China Mandarin has been designated as the official language, though much of the population speaks other dialects, notably Cantonese. In the Philippines a Filipino language based on Tagalog is the official language, and is noted as such in the constitution of the country. Canada is a little different (but we already knew that didn’t we?) as they have two official languages, English and French. This is due to Quebec and their desire to remain French and the desire of the rest of the Canadians to let them.

I propose that yes, we do need a national language in the United States. But this language should not be English, it should be American. There are differences you know. Many words don’t even have the same meaning in the United States and in Great Britain. Take for instance “cheerioâ€￾. In England this is a greeting, while here in the US it is a breakfast cereal. If you were to go into a restaurant for breakfast in England you may not get what you really had in mind if you were to speak American. Say you wanted a nice southern style breakfast, maybe a couple of biscuits and some jelly for them. Well, in English if you asked for biscuits and jelly you would actually get cookies and jello! Now, what kind of breakfast would that be? Here a boot is to put on your foot, in English it is a storage area in the back of your car that you could use to put your dirty boots in! It is obvious that English and American are not the same languages, so I say we should speak American in America. I was even able to find an English to American dictionary which supports my position that while very similar these are actually different languages.

And another thing that bothers me about this whole English thing is that every year through the hard work and dedication of brilliant Americans, we actually give the English words to add to their dictionary. For free! Just in the last couple of years alone we gave them many new words to use, among them podcast , cybercrime, hazmat, and popup just to name a few. When was the last time the English actually added any useful words? I don’t know for sure, but I would have to guess it was somewhere in the dark ages, it was probably “plagueâ€￾. We are about to celebrate the 230th anniversary of our independence from Britain, isn’t it about time we take credit for our own culture?

I'll drink a beer to that one Bob! :rock: :beer:

 

[Big Perm]

Yep, we need some type of National Language....personally, I would prefer "American" or English, but I'm open to others....in order to reside, you have to learn it and speak it....everybody gets a year, to show progress, or else you get booted....we've become a country of individuals, with no solidarity, and it's pathetic.....people need to ban together and be proud of being an Amercan....

Also, everybody is an American....no Spanish Americans, or African Americans, or German Americans....either you are an American, or you aren't....Amercian should come first - otherwise, move back to whatever country is first in your life....

I meant to respond to your post around the flag burning...I am not armed forces, nor have I been, so I can't speak from that perspective....with that being said, people have the right to burn flags, but they also have the right to get their asses beat down for doing so.....it's gotten to the point that, more and more, too many people exercise rights that seem to infringe on the rights of others, and that is fawked up....

My two cents....

 

[Justanotherdodge]

When I first started readin this, I thought you were about to rant on how all the immigrants coming in are expecting people to learn to speak their language. For example, here in Texas, there are TONS of Mexicans who basically refuse to learn our language. They sent tons of mail to the state government charging that we should have all legal documents and such translated into Mexican(since it's not really Spanish, kinda like American/English). I think you're right in saying that it's long overdue that we take responsibility for what we have created...I also think we should stand up and tell immigrants of any nationality "hey...dont come here and demand us to change just for your convenience. Either you learn to adapt and find a way to communicate to us, or GTFO." But hey this is just IMHO:dontknow: