Diversity In Language
The significance of language is a topic that most would agree is a fairly useful tool for basic human communication. However, people often overlook just how important language is in our daily lives. The United States of America is home to over 325.7 million citizens and are of all walks of life. That being said, it is fair to assume that not everyone may be fluent in the same language.
As of 2017, there are a minimum of minimum of 350 languages spoken in the United States, with the dominant language being English with 231.1 million fluent speakers and Spanish as a secondary language with 37.4 million fluent speakers. Statistics like these should not be too surprising, considering America is a melting pot. Some argue Americans should only speak English, with no other language.
This idea is rather bold and comes with a few drawbacks, primarily concerning the logistics of getting all 325.7 million citizens to convert over to one single language that they may or may not know. In order to bring this thought to life, one would have to figure out how to get those who may be bilingual to only speak English. With the aid of law enforcement, such a vision may be possible, but questions like "How severe is the punishment for violating this law?" or "After being fined/penalized, what charges will I face should I break this law again?" could be asked frequently.
Another issue that will most certainly come about is the price to pay for enforcing this new law, both literally and figuratively. Passing a law like this will cost money to put into action and to continue enforcing it over time. Those who will be forced to abide by these new laws probably would not be too content with such a dramatic shift. As stated before, America has one of the most diverse populations on the planet. More protests, movements, and potential riots could arise from such a hasty decision.
That being said, it would be wisest to simpl coexist with one another. The thought of America beigng and English-only country is an option to eliminate language barriers, but it is not the best decision to make. Banning other languages is yet another way to divide a diverse country. Expanding your mind and making an effort to understand someone else's language can be quite fulfilling, so why not make an attempt to learn something other than English? Doing so would be a valuable tool that will allow you to communicate better, and it will be a skill that will stick with you the rest of your life.
Check out the formatting in Blogger; but do you see a wrapping issue in your first and last two paragraphs? I viewed the post in two browsers (Firefox and Chrome), and some of your text ran off the page.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I also think there is an argument to be made about how difficult it is to learn a language like English; not everyone has linguistic abilities to learn a language fluently in a few months; and as studies show, language learning is best when one is young (check out this link from the Max Planck Institute on Psycholinguistics: http://www.mpi.nl/q-a/questions-and-answers/when-should-a-child-learn-a-second-language). There is a real argument about when one should learn.
And perhaps American educational systems should consider this and include more language instruction in primary schools? For example, my daughter gets Spanish instruction, but about one day a week, for 30 minutes. I'm not sure anyone can learn a language fluently that way. Now imagine someone is working full times in a field, or in construction, 8-10 hours a day as an adult. Work lives are exhausting enough, and it's not to say languages cannot be learned, but an argument about language acquisition for adults needs to take those adults' realities into consideration.
You make a very interesting view on language and I find intriguing. The facts you mentioned near the beginning is very fascinating as well, I never knew how much people spoke each language.
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