What is a Language? The Fuss Over Spanish
Switzerland is a fully industrialized democracy with 26 Cantons or independent states. They are arranged into four major areas, each with its own language. The German area speaks dialect and covers the most ground. The French region is in the West end of the country, the Italian region in the South, and a small Romansch speaking population huddles in the Swiss Alps.
Anyone, who has followed our relentless and vicious arguments over the official American language would assume that there is some strife going on in Switzerland amidst all this multilinguism, but that is not so. All four of those languages are considered national languages, and three of them were named "official". Romansch, once almost extinct, made its comeback only in the last couple of decades and is now taught in mountain schools as an alternative.
I don't understand why Americans are so opposed to accepting the Spanish language. It is the official language of twenty nations. Four Hundred Million people all over the world speak Spanish. That makes Four Hundred Million people with whom we are unable to communicate, and that puts us at a disadvantage. Yet, here in Anglo-America, we seem to think that speaking Spanish is somehow beneath us. With typical ignorant arrogance, we equate Spanish with poor, underclass migrant workers who come to "steal our jobs" instead of welcoming it as an enrichment of our multicultural experience.
How can we be so proud of speaking only one language? Being multilingual used to be an index of one's level of education. Now, thanks to xenophobic conservativism, it is almost equivalent with treason.
I wish I were fluent in Spanish, but I only truly speak two languages, German and English, though I could once converse decently in Spanish and am able to stutter a few sentences in both French and Italian. Some day, I will return to school for more Spanish instruction. Foreign language opens doors to foreign culture, which in turn opens minds and hearts.
Placing restrictions on language makes little sense, as we become the only ones who are restricted. We deprive ourselves of opportunities for connection, expansion and understanding and a door to the world slams shut for us.
Does allowing Spanish threaten the English language? Hardly! There are Eight Hundred Million of us Anglos out there. I truly see no reason to be afraid. Do you?
Numbers from Brainboost: (URL: http://www.brainboost.com)
Published by Tyger Schonholzer
Tyger Schonholzer is a respiratory therapist and freelance writer. She has published short stories and poetry in various ezines. Her novel and poetry books are available at Lulu.com View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentIndia has many different languages and dialects. Seems to work for them too.
Being multilingual, this country should have "no official" language. What other country around the world has well over 300 languages??? The USA does.
I don't understand how some people believe that if English becomes the official language of the U.S, that foreign speakers, read that Spanish speakers, will take the extra time and effort to learn the language. I doubt they will, and no matter what sanctions we enact against foreign language speakers, in violation of our first amendment right to free speech, they will continue to do what they want language-wise.
Additionally, name me one multilingual country that is currently being ripped apart because its many official languages, and I will name you some countries that have been ripped apart because some of their citizens' language was being supressed.
It would seem to me that knowing English would be an advantage for each person living in the USA, but there is a huge difference between an advantage and and obligation.
I remember in our social studies classes in high school, we compared statistics of various countries. One of the statistics listed in our textbook was "official language." The United States of America had no official language. Has that changed? I know that English is the common language, but is it the official language. I read those statistics in my textbook about 10 years ago, so I don't know if the USA has since then announced an official language. If they have announced that English is our official language, then I agree that there is an obligation to learn it. However, if we have not established an official language I don't think we can claim that people are obligated to learn the language of one segment of our population any more than they are obligated to learn the languages of every other language that our citizens speak. Our citizens speak a LOT of languages, so it would be difficult to learn them all. Granted, it would seem to me to be an advantage for every citizen a
I'm in favor of Spanish as a national language, but I just wanted to point out something. From a cultural perspective, I agree South American countries should be considered America. The way it currently plays at in the court system has been a bit different. Molson and Yuengling (two beer companies)had a court battle over which one was "America's" oldest beer. Yuengling won because it is located in the States, and Molson lost because North America was determined to not fit the connotation of America. I think this case will set a preference for defining the term "America."
You are right about knowing more than one language, it does indicate a higher level of sophistication on a cultural level. Not to mention that it can provide greater opportunity.
btw. South American countries and Mexico have either Spanish or Portugese as native languages. And yes...they are ALSO America!
Actually, it is the English speaking groups that refused to learn the native languages, which included Spanish at the time, but superimposed their own tongue over that of every other ethnic group. The purpose of allowing Spanish as a nationally accepted language would be not to accommodate immigrants, but to learn the language of our adjacent countries for the purpose of improved communication. Some might argue that we should learn French as well, in order to accommodate Canadadians, but Canada is predominantly English speaking now.
Spanish may be the official language of 20 countries but none of them are America! Every other Ethnic group that came here learned OUR official language which is English. The Spanish speakers are no better than the Germans,Poles,Russians or anyone else who came here from other countries in the past.