Should the English language be the official language of the United States

Why on earth do any of you people think it's necessary to have an "official" language of the United States? Most people speak English. So what? People have different spiritual and cultural beliefs and some people speak different languages or are more articulate in a language other than English. English wasn't the original language here anyway. Did my ancestors get in your ancestors faces about it? NO!! Our differences make things interesting. I speak English and Tex-Mex. I don't call it Spanish because it's not the correct Spanish but I get by and enjoy communicating in both languages. I like to hear people speaking different languages. We are all human beings not the Borg from Star Trek. You people want everyone to be the same for your own comfort levels. It doesn't work that way. Free will.

All I'm reading is "I love all cultures except for your own."

What was the original language ?

Depends on the tribe as each had their own language. Or have you forgotten there were people here before the Europeans came?

yes

Learn it or leave!

the real question is CAN it be

Absolutely and nothing but!!

I thought it already "was" the official language.

No, it's the most spoken language, Spanish is the second most spoken language. There are many different languages spoken in America though so English isn't the official language.

Hmmm, interesting. That's good to know.

English SHOULD be America's official language.
If you want to speak Esperanto at home, that's your business.
If you go out and converse with your fellow AMERICANS, you should ALL have a COMMON language.
English is our common language.
If you don't want to learn it, don't move here.

I agree completely.

Mind you, I am not opposed to other languages.
But if you live in America, you should learn English.
PERIOD.

If you refuse to speak our language, just don't move here.
It's simple.

Exactly.

Emphatically, yes.

By the way, Spanish is the official language in Mexico, and they refuse to print things in multiple languages like we do, yet nobody gives them grief.

We do not need an official language. We are a melting pot. Not a layer cake.

Yes

Your central and south American neighbours don't have two or more official languages (one of which should be English of course) so why should you.

Agreed David. Many thanks for that. I agree

My pleasure.

:-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
English is the de facto national language of the United States, with 82% of the population claiming it as a mother tongue, and some 96% claiming to speak it "well" or "very well."[3] However, no official language exists at the federal level. There have been several proposals to make English the national language in amendments to immigration reform bills,but none of these bills has become law with the amendment intact. The situation is quite varied at the state and territorial levels, with some states mirroring the federal policy of adopting no official language in a de jure capacity, others adopting English alone, others officially adopting English as well as local languages, and still others adopting a policy of de facto bilingualism.

We are a Nation of Immigrants

Pardon my ignorance but I thought it already was......

Resistance is futile you must assimilate.

It is, in 1789 by a margin of only one vote, English won out as the official language of the United States. If the vote had gone the other way, wer sprechen sie Deutch! Yep, German was a popular language in early America, remember the Pennsylvania Dutch?

Oh yeah New York was New Amsterdam prior

Yes sir!

Yeah but the Dutch aren't Germans and don't want to be.

At one time, Philadelphia had the largest English speaking population in the world, 2nd only to London. What other language would be appropriate ??

Hell, we don't speak very good English here now!

I couldn't agree more, he he.

Where is 'enery 'iggins when we needs 'im? eh!

He's alive and well in Philadelphia, giving English lessons to the natives, old bean :))

We certainly have our quota of "natives" that's for certain.

A mixed bunch too i gather, the problems with mass immigration are making financial recovery 100 times more difficult. It reminds me of 'hard up' families producing more children, it just doesn't make any sense. Lots of Brits are heading off to Australia for a better life, in fact if i were 40 years younger i would be in the same queue !!

You just can't mix first and third worlds together. The mix is always tainted.

So it appears. Although i'm not totally opposed to controlled immigration. America has been a good example of that in the past.