Mandatory English in the United States?

America is the home of a variety of foreigners, cultural, and languages. Those from countries such as Korea, Japan and China work hard to get to the United States and work even harder to assimilate with American citizens. While the majority of these different groups' people speak English, a large amount of the Hispanic population refuses to learn or speak English in America. The government should make English the official language of America and pass a law making it mandatory for foreigners that live in the U.S. to speak English.

America was meant to be an English nation. All presidents speak English and make speeches in English. Though a handful of them knew French, none of the past presidents could speak Spanish fluently. According to Huntington (2006), former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt said that America should have one language, the same language that has been the foundation of our country (para. 13). I completely agree with this statement. Our Declaration of Independence was written in English, our Constitution and all of its Amendments were in English, and our national anthem is in English. These important documents are what built this country.

The United States does not even have an official language anymore. Every other country has an official language. English has been the language of America since George Washington, and now our language is in question. As Krauthammer (2006) said, the senate could not even bring itself to declare English as the official language. All they could do was pass an amendment saying that the national language was English (para. 4). I think this is positively ridiculous. The government does not even see this as a big deal, or an issue. Instead, they cater to Spanish-speaking immigrants by giving all important documents in both English and Spanish. Now they can function normally in their native language and have no need to learn English.

Bilingual education is failing and causing more harm than good. This type of education teaches students in his or her native language and giving them no real reason to learn English. Now that there is no need to learn English for education, some Hispanics assume there is no need to learn English at all. Chavez (2007) says that the bilingual education is based on an unproven theory. He says the theory that students must first be taught to read and write in their own language before they can successfully learn to read and write in English (para. 5) I agree with Chavez and also disagree with the theory. I believe that all the program is doing is prolonging the students' education in their native language instead of attempting to teach them English. Hewko (2003) also thinks that bilingual education is not helping immigrants fit into the American society and is a bad policy (para. 1). I also agree with this. Non-English speaking students should learn in an English-only environment in order to properly learn English and not be segregated by a language barrier.

It is good for Americans to learn other cultures, but not be made to be bilingual. I don't think that America should only know English, but I do think it should be the primary and official language. High schools require one to two years of a foreign language for a college prep.diploma. Some college offer foreign language classes as well. As Hewko (2003) said, the rich cultural diversity makes up America (para.9). America is filled with people from different backgrounds and foreign countries. That is what makes America... America! America is also an English speaking country. Americans may know other languages, foreigners should know English.

Immigrants should know English, but by no means abandon their native roots. I strongly believe that knowing about heritage and cultural is important and should never be forgotten. English should be spoken in school and work, but a person's native language would be appropriate at home and church. Hewko (2003) said that we should not confuse an English-speaking country whose citizens also happen to speak other languages and that of a bilingual society (para. 9 and 10). Hewko is right. There is a very large difference between the two, and everyone should realize that America is a country with citizens that may be able to speak multiple languages, not a bilingual country. I also agree with Huntington (2006) who said that Americans should not have to know a non-English language just to communicate with their fellow citizens, which is what he believes the Spanish-Language Advocates have in mind (para. 7). I don't think American citizens should have to know other language just to communicate with other citizens.

The government makes it too easy for immigrants to function without English. All sorts of documents are not in English and Spanish. Hospitals and doctor offices have every document in both languages, and translators available in the court rooms. Again, the government has given immigrants no reason to learn English. Mujica (2003) reported that providing these services is expensive for all American taxpayers and keeps immigrants linguistically isolated (para. 15-22). We are paying for all these documents because more than half of uninsured hospitalized patients are immigrants. Who pays for uninsured patients? The American taxpayers do. The government also started bilingual programs with funding of over $7.5 million in the sixties, and has added millions of dollars since then. Government funding means taxpayers' dollars.

America was meant to be an English speaking nation, but does not even have an official language. The best the government could do was making English the common language. Bilingual education is also not helping teach students to function in an English speaking society. Instead, it is isolating them and creating a group of immigrants that are outcasts from the rest of the students in the schools. I think it is beneficial for Americans to learn about cultural diversity and know other non-English languages. However, I do not think they should have to know another language just to communicate in everyday life in America. By no means should immigrants abandon their roots, but they should be able to assimilate with other citizens. The government should also not have to make the taxpayers pay for all of the costs of bilingual paperwork and unsuccessful bilingual programs.