'National' or 'common'? Senate ponders what to call English

[The MoUsY spell-checker]

Article here: 'National' or 'common'? Senate ponders what to call English

I don't think that having English as a national will be providing much unity with chatspeak and all that around. It would be nice if it's the common language though. (Depending on where you look, chatspeak might actually be more common than English? gonk )

That said, I'm not from the US, so this doesn't really affect me. I just thought that you might be interested.

Now, on a related topic, do you notice a lot of words being wrongly used for other words with similar meaning?  

[Emmanuela]

Bush said:
"What the president has said all along is that he wants to make sure that people who become American citizens have a command of the English language," Snow said. "It's as simple as that."

Hm, a little rich coming from him:p Surely English is the most commonly used language in the world, let alone America? I'm not from America so my veiws might be rather uninformed, though I know that Spanish is a very common language in the southern States.

To the topic, do you mean like malapropisms? Yeah, I often hear that, though annoyingly I can't think of an example...

Yes I can 'I'm sure us human beans and...' *great laughter*  

[Emmanuela]

My friend just gave me an excellemt example. She was asking what unsustainable meant, s I gave her my definition and asked what context it would be used in, and she said Geography, so I said 'Oh, well then it's like fossil fuels, at some point they'll run out' and so she replied 'is abt flodd plains not fossil fields' Very amusing:p  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

I say English should be our national language. It's been what we've spoken all along. What people speak in the privacy of their homes is their business, but no one has the right to demand menus and movie subtitles in their language.

When my great grandmother came over here from the Netherlands in 1916 (or so), she forbade her children to speak Dutch in the house. They all learned and spoke English, and she picked it up from them. Today's immigrants have it too damn easy compared to her and thus have no incentive to learn the English language.

Hell, I've talked online with people down in South America who've never been to the States, yet their English is near-perfect. I wish they'd come here instead of these idiots who think they're entitled to turn this country into a microcosm of theirs!  

[The MoUsY spell-checker]

Shinobi 1977

I say English should be our national language. It's been what we've spoken all along. What people speak in the privacy of their homes is their business, but no one has the right to demand menus and movie subtitles in their language.

In English-speaking countries, the people who do not speak English at all are at their own disadvantage. For example, I remember seeing someone who had trouble catching the train because of inability to understand English. Having English as a national language should help to reduce the number of such people.

In Australia, the idea of including a basic English test in the application for Australian citizenship has been brought up in the past month or so. I agree that people have the right to speak what they want in the privacy of their homes, but they really can't expect everything to be available in their language. (There are communities of people who speak other languages all over the place, but it's not everywhere, and there are many different languages too.)  

[Archdemonessa]

Shinobi 1977

I say English should be our national language. It's been what we've spoken all along. What people speak in the privacy of their homes is their business, but no one has the right to demand menus and movie subtitles in their language.

When my great grandmother came over here from the Netherlands in 1916 (or so), she forbade her children to speak Dutch in the house. They all learned and spoke English, and she picked it up from them. Today's immigrants have it too damn easy compared to her and thus have no incentive to learn the English language.

Hell, I've talked online with people down in South America who've never been to the States, yet their English is near-perfect. I wish they'd come here instead of these idiots who think they're entitled to turn this country into a microcosm of theirs!

I'm insulted. My family is from India and we all would enjoy a Bollywood film. I haven't been to India for ten years and so it's a nice way for me to learn the language, menus always have the english translation (at least that what they say.), and where have you seen movie subtitles in any language besides English?

 

[Sola Catella]

The MoUsY spell-checker

Shinobi 1977

I say English should be our national language. It's been what we've spoken all along. What people speak in the privacy of their homes is their business, but no one has the right to demand menus and movie subtitles in their language.

In English-speaking countries, the people who do not speak English at all are at their own disadvantage. For example, I remember seeing someone who had trouble catching the train because of inability to understand English. Having English as a national language should help to reduce the number of such people.

In Australia, the idea of including a basic English test in the application for Australian citizenship has been brought up in the past month or so. I agree that people have the right to speak what they want in the privacy of their homes, but they really can't expect everything to be available in their language. (There are communities of people who speak other languages all over the place, but it's not everywhere, and there are many different languages too.)

If I remember correctly, US legal immigration already includes a basic English proficiency test. Making it the official language is more a political stament than anything else, I think.  

[Zealot of Insanity]

It really doesn't matter what our Congress does. Whatever happens, there will always be cells of neighborhoods(?) that will speak another language other than English, and businesses will continue to serve them in that language, as long as they get a profit from them.

I still say it is the national language, English.  

[Ame Yuki Kaze]

Elizabeth Hawkeye

I'm insulted. My family is from India and we all would enjoy a Bollywood film. I haven't been to India for ten years and so it's a nice way for me to learn the language, menus always have the english translation (at least that what they say.), and where have you seen movie subtitles in any language besides English?

No offense is meant. It's fine for people to be able to enjoy films in their own language and all that, but in California it's the law that all movies must have Spanish subtitles at the bottom of the screen and restaurants must provide Spanish menus on demand. That's what i'm talking about.

If movie theaters and restaurants wish to cater to non-English speakers voluntarily, that's fine. But too many people come to this country thinking they have the right to demand everything in their own language or sue to get what they want.  

[Zealot of Insanity]

Yami no Hitokiri

Elizabeth Hawkeye

I'm insulted. My family is from India and we all would enjoy a Bollywood film. I haven't been to India for ten years and so it's a nice way for me to learn the language, menus always have the english translation (at least that what they say.), and where have you seen movie subtitles in any language besides English?

No offense is meant. It's fine for people to be able to enjoy films in their own language and all that, but in California it's the law that all movies must have Spanish subtitles at the bottom of the screen and restaurants must provide Spanish menus on demand. That's what i'm talking about.

If movie theaters and restaurants wish to cater to non-English speakers voluntarily, that's fine. But too many people come to this country thinking they have the right to demand everything in their own language or sue to get what they want.

Nicely put. wink  

[Moppeh]

I think that English should be the national language, simply because most people here speak it, and most jobs require you to be able to speak it.  

[Zealot of Insanity]

I'll say, let people speak whatever language they want in privacy. But, as Yami no Hitokiri said, there are to many people that feel that they deserve to be treated with their own language, or else, they feel discriminated. Hello? Aren't we in America? neutral  

[Aramethea]

This might get me into trouble but this discussion begs a question - how about the Ebonics movement? Granted, no one hears as much about it now as they did a few years ago, but the movement thrives nonetheless. The issue with all of this, as I see it, is that in this country we try to be respectful (well, some of us do) of other cultures. I'll grant that in a post-911 world it seems we care less and less about the freedoms that non-English speaking people have here in the US, including the right to speak their own language without fear of reprisal. However with all the brouhaha lately about homeland security, it's become impractical and unfashionable to let people speak their own tongue. Let's face it - if you were at a cafe and the people next to you were speaking in Arabic, would you not be nervous? This is just my own opinion, but I think it's all psycholgical. Fearless Leader (as I like to call Mr. Bush - remember that from Rocky and Bullwinkle? Or all you all too young?) can barely speak his native tongue himself, at least not in a cogent or coherent manner, so of course he wants English to be the national language. He can't understand anyone who doesn't speak English, so it makes him nervous. Now, that was half a joke, but the theory is pretty sound, I think.

Look, we learn English in school - it's the name of the course, for crying out loud. And I do agree that people living here should have more than a little English skill to get by with. But should we force people to speak it? No. As for it being the national laguage, I always simply assumed it already was. Honestly - I see all of this as yet another attempt to deny foreigners basic rights under the guise of "nationalism". Put yourself in the shoes of some poor immigrant (a LEGAL immigrant.... don't get me started on THAT subject) struggling to learn English. It's complicated, and it takes a long time. Should he be persecuted, as some are, particulalry in rural areas, because he struggles to make himself understood? Let the restaraunts in Cali have their Spanish menus. Or Hindi, or German, or French. I look at it as a courtesy, not a hardship. That's just me though. We take for granted a lot of things in America - the right of people to speak their own language shouldn't be one of those things.  

[CrzyLuGirl]

Well many immigrants when they come to America, DO wish to learn English. Even some illegal immigrants, and I know many, try very hard to learn English and speak it with the hopes of one day becoming actual citizens. It is said that the best way to learn a language is to be completely immersed in it. By trying to make things easier for the people who DON'T want to learn English, they put those who DO at a disadvantage. They won't have to learn it, so when a problem arises and they need to be able to speak or understand it, they can't.
Another point- I'm second generation Puerto Rican American, and my parents know both Spanish and English. I know some Spanish, but mostly speak English, so when I visit relatives WHO NEVER BOTHERED TO LEARN ENGLISH we are unable to communicate without someone translating for us.  

[Red-Chocolate]

People who live here should have to learn English not the other way around! domokun domokun