With the recent happenings in Arizona concerning illegal immigration and the potential ramifications of their new law, and with my sister, who rarely comments politically on anything, chiming in with a blog post about her views on the subject, I thought I’d ought to present a post on a subject that I find to be something I sit on the fence about and, frankly, haven’t formed a good opinion on yet.
And that is — how do we handle the plethora of languages spoken by the various inhabitants of the United States?
Tim James, candidate for governor of Alabama, recently made an advertisement about language usage. It seems that Alabama currently gives driver’s license tests in 12 different languages. He states that if elected, he would reduce this down to one — English — because that’s what they speak in Alabama and it will save a lot of money in not printing and administering forms and tests.
I watched this video with a great deal of mixed feelings. On one hand, I completely see his point — English is the dominating language of this country. Many other countries around the world now teach English as a matter of course in school simply so they can do business with us and others. The fact is, road signs are in English, which makes you wonder exactly how well the drivers in Alabama that tested on another language can drive.
Of course, I can also see the point of multiculturalism. Language is fundamental to how we think, act, and live. Being a bit accomodating may cost a bit or be an inconvenience, but it preserves something for the foreign speaker. Being exposed to more than one language broadens our own horizons, making us better, more well-rounded people and keeping our minds open. How terrible if we had suppressed all music written in Latin!
Also, it could be argued that many that live here may not follow laws, use services, or participate as much should we cut off the language options. There is also a very significant amount of Latino immigrants now living here, especially in the southwestern states and some parts of the Midwest. If the town is 50% Spanish-speaking, should the languages used be 50/50 as well?
And then I come back to the fact that many businesses and government now employ translators as a matter of course to handle the load. Signs 
are being printed in English and Spanish at least, if not more. There is a lot of money, time, and effort spent on handling those who don’t have a mastery of English. We are inundated by the, “press here for English” or “press 1 for English”, and any number of accommodations. It is possible that we are more multi-linguistic now than ever in the history of this country.
The United States does not have an official, legal language, meaning that what is supported is up to a decision by individual, local governments and so forth. There are plenty of movements out there to pass a law to make English official or maybe, like Quebec, make it a dual system.
To be honest, I’m simply on the fence over this. My great-great-great grandparents had to learn English when they came over from Germany and didn’t get any leeway from the locals. If I moved to France, I would be all but forced to learn the language to be successful at all. But times change and perhaps the USA has outgrown its monolinguistic setting — should we be changing our attitudes towards language as well, or are we justified in holding to our English majority?
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I think what’s great about our country is that it’s made up of all different kinds of people. Personally I embrace the diversity found here and hearing someone else speak a different language has always fascinated me.
I kinda thought we were all about embracing Spanish in the US considering our phone prompts in Spanish, children’s television that teaches Spanish, and more and more of our products being printed in the language. But I can see why some people might find it disturbing.
Americans have been distrusting people who speak different languages for a very, very long time and it hasn’t gotten any better. I think this may be one reason why many people think everyone should speak English. If you move here and don’t learn English then you’re not embracing OUR culture, the American way, and that’s not patriotic. If you don’t want to learn our language then you don’t deserve to be here. That’s not my opinion but I know it’s a lot of other people’s.
If you go to many other countries, especially in Europe, you are bound to find someone who speaks English. Even in China and Japan and India people speak English. So why is it not okay that we learn to speak OTHER languages, too? People in other countries are multi-lingual. They know languages of other countries that border them. I don’t think there is anything wrong with learning Spanish in schools or printing it on our products and signs.
Now, if a company doesn’t want to print Spanish or another language on its sign, then fine. I don’t see why they feel they MUST if they don’t want to or don’t have the extra money for it. If a foreign-speaking person needs to find a store or wants to learn about a product, they can ask someone, or take it upon themselves to learn the words. That’s what an American would have to do in another country. It’s simply the most practical approach. You can’t expect to go everywhere in the world and have everything be in YOUR laugnage, English or otherwise, especially in a country that has a more “dominant” language. I think government offices should have people who speak another language and materials printed in other languages, but smaller companies or independent mom and pop shops shouldn’t have to worry about it if they don’t want to. I’m all for multi-language signs and materials myself, but I don’t think they should be an obligation.
I guess what I’m trying to say is I think the US should embrace both English and Spanish. English should remain our more dominant language and Spanish should be our second. We should have two. Not because we’re “enabling” people who “don’t wanna learn English”, but because it’s time to really own up to the name “melting-pot” and be a better, mature and responsible neighbor. We need to realize that, like it or not, Mexico is a country that borders us and we’re always going to have a relationship with its citizens. Other countries do it and any American traveler or transplant is so thankful to find someone who speaks English. So why should we deny that to others who want to come to our great country?
Thanks, Marie…lots of good thoughts.
Like you, I do not think that you are being “unpatriotic” or “unAmerican” if you don’t learn English, but I DO think it causes a whole boatload of problems.
Let me cite three more opposing arguments, simply because it came up in my mind, even though I’m undecided on the issue as a whole:
1) I think it greatly benefits people to learn the language of the country they are in; I could easily exist in France without knowing French, but I would do much, much better if I knew it. By compensating for those who don’t know English by printing bi-lingual signs and forms and so forth, we do nothing to encourage that learning.
2) Learning language is a very difficult process, but even moreso when you’re speaking the dominant in a non-dominant locale. I’ve had 5 years of Spanish and I can barely do it at all — why? Because I rarely have to use it. If I was in Madrid, it’d be a different story. Thus to say, “You must know both” is nice in theory but hard for most English-speaking Americans. Some of us do very well in language; most do not. Probably what would need to be embraced would be a national push to teach everyone Spanish and English in school vs. it being optional or just rudimentary. And to start at an early age.
3) Different languages is very divisive. Social groups do not mingle nearly as much as they might if languages were common. We find it difficult to share business, pleasure, cultures, etc. because of the language barriers. How many calls to the police or other issues would simply be turned into a misunderstanding if we had common language? Yes, the Spanish community does well on its own, but it’s very much like, “They are over THERE, we are over HERE. We have Spanish restaurants/bars/shops over THERE, and English ones over HERE, and never the two shall meet.” It just seems we’d unite better as a country under a singular understanding.
3a) I do not enter Spanish-speaking stores. Why? It’s not because I’m afraid of the people, or because I’m racist, or because I hate the culture, it’s because I know that as soon as I enter, there’s going to be this HUGE wall of non-communication and misunderstanding going on. Some days I might be up for that, but when I’m exploring a new place and am already intimidated? Very unlikely. And that’s me, and I feel I’m fairly cultured; can you imagine my grandfather attempting it? Not in a million.
I don’t think your arguments were opposing very much at all. In fact, after I posted this, I realized I should have been a bit more clear, especially about the whole “learning both languages” argument.
I do think that we should start teaching Spanish as young as preschool and continue it through high school as a mandatory part of the curriculum. I can’t imagine many good reasons to not want your child to learn another language. Most schools are doing this now and I applaud that. Hopefully, in years down the road, the language barriers will start to fall. Then we can better communicate. On the same token Americans don’t really want to change for ANYONE ELSE other than ourselves and rarely even then.
So this issue of two languages or one dominant and one lesser is going to go on for a while.
I still disagree that posted signs don’t force people to not learn a language. As you said, learning a language is difficult. I think signs are helpful to those who might still not have a grasp on English. Also, documents and signs in a native language can help save time and frustration, especially in emergencies and taking care of important business. I’m not saying we should have multi-language signs EVERYWHERE or every product, but for important things like in government documents, signs in government buildings, hospitals, food banks, large institutions, etc. Road signs, no. Products? Not unless the company wants to. Some major cities in other countries have a few signs posted in English and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
I suppose in Michigan it’s a bit different. We have Mexican town in Detroit and it’s very Spanish, but it’s not insanely segregated. We have a lot of authentic Mexican shops around where I live in which the owners speak both Spanish and English. There might be some areas where the language barrier segregates us, but I don’t feel it’s a major problem around where I live. Maybe in more isolated areas it’s a problem.
At work I find myself having to communicate with MANY people from Germany, Russia, France, and some eastern European countries. They speak very poor English. I find that it’s pretty easy to understand what they want with pointing, hand gestures, and showing them products. It’s not EASY but it’s not terrifying or extremely difficult to the point where I cannot handle the situation. Now, would I purposely put myself in that situation over a situation where I could speak to someone who knows perfect English? Probably not. But as a matter of consequence it’s not a huge deal to me. If I want to get some real chorizo at a market instead of the fake shit at Meijer, I’ll go into a Mexican shop and ask. It would probably do me some good.