Time to Make English the Official Language?
Is it unreasonable to require that people who seek benefits from New York State be able to read English? Evidently, Andrew Cuomo thinks so -- and he wants you non-New Yorkers out there to help foot the bill for his cultural sensitivity. From the Buffalo News:
Twenty-seven state agencies will have to begin providing official forms and translation services in six languages beyond English under an executive order signed today by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. . . The governor did not provide an overall price tag for the program, which he said would be funded mostly by Washington; it will cost about $1.5 million annually for the state.
That's awfully generous of Andrew. The six languages, in case you're interested, are Spanish, Italian, Russian, French, French Creole and Mandarin Chinese. Italian? Really? In 2011?
In an earlier post from January, ProEnglish argued that making English the official language would cut the deficit. News like this seems to bear that out. But from my perspective that is not the main reason for making English the official language. The main reason is cultural -- in the age of multiculturalism, it becomes increasingly important for the state to declare that not all languages are created equal. If we don't have sufficient confidence in our culture to declare English the official language, then America has, indeed, gone "soft."
I'm not aware of any sound legal argument against Official English. The ACLU has a backgrounder disparaging the idea, but it is entirely devoid of legal reasoning. It simply asserts that English-language laws "stigmatize" immigrants. Well, indeed, all immigration laws "stigmatize" immigrants by making them jump through hurdles that a native-born citizen need not. That's life in the big city!
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Oct '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
I would argue that the main reason is not cultural, but rather the functioning of a coherent polity. Look, I live in a country with four national languages, (three official), and yet there is tremendous homogeneity within the boundaries where people vote.
It is surpassingly important that an electorate be able to communicate with one another and that candidates be able to make their case to all in a common language. Otherwise, you end up with linguistically segregated voting blocs with candidates who can exclusively address them. This usually ends badly: see the Austro-Hungarian empire, Yugoslavia, or Belgium, among many others.
I can walk in less than two hours to a place where everybody speaks (Swiss) German, but if you live where I do, you're expected to speak French to be part of the community. Why shouldn't people who have come to America learn English?
Jun '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
I've heard travelers to Western Europe say, at first, people say they don't speak English, but after a few drinks, everybody speaks English. Funny how that works.
Feb '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Um - *Andrew* Cuomo is the current governor of NY.
Mario is his father, the former governor.
Feb '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Um - *Andrew* Cuomo is the current governor of NY.
Mario is his father, the former governor.
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Preserved Killick: Um - *Andrew* Cuomo is the current governor of NY.
Mario is his father, the former governor. · Oct 7 at 3:33pm
Mille grazie! Correction made. (apologies, I sometimes live in the past)
Feb '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
well, that's OK. I have no doubt that Mario agrees with his son.
May '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
What does it mean to make a language "official"?
Oct '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
In Switzerland, an “official language” is one of the four spoken by the indigenous population: German, French, Italian, and Romansh, but there are only three “national languages”: German, French, and Italian—federal laws need only be decreed in these languages, and simultaneous translation in the federal parliament is only in these three.
It would seem to me that in the U.S., de facto, the official languages are English and Spanish, while the national language is English. The real dispute is whether (in Swiss terms), the sole national language is to remain English.
Dec '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Michael, it means the rest of us don't have to pay to produce our official documents in other languages, for the convenience of the minority.
On that same subject, I posted a link to a lengthy video on James Dellingpole's post that addresses the same subject.
As an American, born and raised overseas, English is essentially a foreign language to me. I was fluent in Spanish as a toddler, then Lao, ad nauseum. At no time did my family ever expect me to be able to function in American English, as an effort to preserve my cultural heritage. I still hate American English, mostly because I never know where doublle-letters go; it seems so arcane.
And yet, American citizens are not required to publish documents for me me, separately, with singled and doubled consonants where I expect them. It's my job to figure this out, not the government's and not on your tab. My avatar is actually me, but in Spain, when most Americans were not being brought up there. Should there be a government program to protect me from wearing those silly clothes?
(Looks down, sees checked shirt and plaid pants). Nevermind.
Jun '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
I'm all in favor of making the official language English. I am not in favor of having two official languages, say English and Spanish, because two does nothing to help unify a country (See Canada).
I'm all in favor of people celebrating their "roots" but what about being American? Many people in America seem to gravitate toward edges rather than a balance, they are all about their rights but don't want to discuss responsibilities, they are all about their "home" countries and their "heritage" yet they were born right here and can't seem to find anything good about being American. Except for their rights.
Jul '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Robert E. Lee:
I'm all in favor of people celebrating their "roots" but what about being American? Many people in America seem to gravitate toward edges rather than a balance, they are all about their rights but don't want to discuss responsibilities, they are all about their "home" countries and their "heritage" yet they were born right here and can't seem to find anything good about being American. Except for their rights.
Second.
Oct '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Adam, maybe you and Newt meant English should be the "national" language of America.
Official means "language of government." the philippines has two official languages and one national language.
looking to the future, I see the U.S. having two official languages--English and Spanish. As for the american national language--it's all about majority rules.
Edited on October 9, 2011 at 11:27amMar '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
I'd be happy to see English declared as our official language--it is only sensible given that it is the language spoken in the halls of power and our laws and signs are written in it.
To offset any charges of "nativism", and because I think it just a good idea for people to be exposed to foreign languages, I'd also be happy if no one was admitted to an undergraduate university for a liberal arts degree unless they are able to read and translate Latin at an AP level (or Greek, for that matter) and speak at least 1 foreign modern language at a passable level.
This latter plan might even help reduce the cost of college by allowing students to self-ration by raising the bar.
Perhaps the savings from form printing can be redirected into state grants for more extensive foreign language (not ESL) programs and testing.
Feb '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Remember how the Tower of Babel was destroyed?
Apr '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
I live in the Province of Quebec (Canada) where the provincial government has enacted laws to protect the French language. These laws not only dictate that French must be spoken in the workplace, schools and in businesses, it also specifies the relative size of French vs English on signs---French must be bigger. However, these laws are an exercise in futility. If you have to pass a law to enforce use of a language, that's a sure sign that the language is no longer relevant. The problem in Quebec is that the indigenous (French Canadian) population isn't having babies...there's no one to pass down the French language and culture to. If you have to rely on immigration to sustain your state/province/country, then you have no right to impose anything on anyone...including which language must be spoken. Enacting English language laws in the United States will be the beginning of the end for English. The only sure way to protect English is to keep it relevant by having the English population procreate. I hate to break to to my American friends, but you had better start bushing up on your Spanish.
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
Black Prince: point taken. But I envision only making English the language of government; I would not support Quebec style language laws that reach into private conduct. Those strike me as an intolerable invasion of individual liberty. But I don't think there is any liberty interest in being able to take a driving test on Mandarin.
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
John Walker: "I would argue that the main reason is not cultural, but rather the functioning of a coherent polity." John, belatedly, thanks for the comment. That may be the better way to put it. But I view culture and polity as two sides of the same coin. One could describe Belgium as a political mess, but isn't the root cause a divided culture?
Nov '10
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
I taught ESL to adult immigrants in my BC days (before children), and I asked my students this very question: Should English be the official language of the United States? Many were surprised to discover that it wasn't already so. And I was surprised to discover that nearly all of my students thought it ought to be. (Disclaimer: The bulk of the students in this intermediate-level ESL class emigrated from either Russia or states formerly a part of the Soviet Union, and not from Latin America.)
And also...yeah: Italian?!
Jan '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
John Walker
It is surpassingly important that an electorate be able to communicate with one another and that candidates be able to make their case to all in a common language. Otherwise, you end up with linguistically segregated voting blocs with candidates who can exclusively address them. This usually ends badly: see the Austro-Hungarian empire, Yugoslavia, or Belgium, among many others.
YES!
The true cost of multilingualism is not the provision of forms and interpreters for people who cannot (yet) communicate in English; it's the creation of, as you say, linguistically segregated voting blocs.
For instance, Los Angeles has a thriving Korean community, at least two Korean-language newspapers, and ballots printed in Korean. They've probably got a Korean TV station too; been a long time since I lived there. It is possible for someone to vote based solely on the information and opinions provided in Korean-language sources, and I have no idea what those sources are saying.
(Granted, the Korean-language sources may well be better than the MSM; they could hardly be worse.)
Apr '11
Re: Time to Make English the Official Language?
I understand that what you're proposing is limited to making English the language of government and not the far-reaching laws that Quebec has enacted, but I think that my point still stands. The fact that we're even discussing this topic means that the cause is already lost. Making English the official language of government will not give people an incentive to learn the language—it will just give people an incentive to circumvent the government.