Yo No Hablo Espanol

English is not the official language of the United States of America. This might come as a surprise to some people who would then ask the logical question, “What is the official language then, Mr Smarty-Pants?”

Well, America doesn’t have an official language. We don’t now and we never have. Several states have English as the official language, and some of the states and territories have languages like Spanish, French, Hawaiian (guess where?), and other native languages with official status, but nationwide we don’t have an official national language, and I’m fine with that. I have no patience for people who want to make English the official language. We’re a country of immigrants; every single one of us, even so-called “native” peoples, has ancestors who came from somewhere else. Go back far enough and we’re all African.

But while English is not the official language, it is the de facto language of this country. It is used by our government, our military, our media, etc. It’s a good, versitile language with a long, somewhat muddled, history. It is spoken by the vast majority of people in the United States and has several different dialects just within our borders.

It’s also an international language. It’s the language of commerce and diplomacy, much like what French and Latin used to be back in the day. You may not speak Swedish, but if you go to Stockholm you’ll likely find people everywhere who speak English. An Albanian and a German might not be able to understand each other’s languages, but odds are they can both talk in English.

So somewhat ramblingly, we come to the point of this article: learning English is an excellent idea.

This comes up because I live in Phoenix, a place with a very large Hispanic community. Just in the apartment complex where I live, most of the people are Hispanic. It probably isn’t any great shock to hear that a great many of them are first-generation immigrants from places south of the US border. That they are here doesn’t bother me (as long as they are here legally), and I don’t mind that they speak Spanish.

What worries me, though, is that I am concerned we are making it far too easy for their children to not learn English and thus not assimilate into the greater American society. Here in Phoenix, there’s so much bilingualism it’s almost like being in a Spanish version of Montreal. When I go shopping at places like Wal-Mart or Target, the aisles all have signs in English and Spanish. My cable TV provider gives me more Spanish speaking channels than I can count at the moment. There’s Spanish newspapers and radio stations. Spanish is everywhere down here.

Now I’m not bothered too much when I see private companies doing this. Target and Wal-Mart do it because they want to have Spanish-speaking customers feel comfortable shopping at their stores, and I don’t blame them for wanting to get the profit.

But I do worry. I worry about the lack of assimilation. I worry that the kids of some of these immigrants aren’t going to learn sufficient English to get by in this country. I also feel for those who have come here knowing only Spanish and are stuck in lower-wage jobs because they don’t know enough English to move up in the world.

What’s the solution? Education. We need to make sure anyone who comes into our schools knows how to speak fluent English by the time they graduate high school. I also think we need to have adult education courses available, for free, in all cities of any size that will teach anyone English, regardless of their current language. Yes, this will cost us some money up-front, but in return these people will learn to speak English, increase their earning power and go on to make more money and pay more taxes.

People who want to learn English, or say they do, need to also take the advice of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He once made the comment that you won’t learn English nearly as well if you spend all your free-time watching Spanish television and reading Spanish newspapers. Given that he’s from Austria and had to learn English himself, this is a guy who knows what he is talking about.

Admitedly, given that I’m a native English-speaker, I might just be out of my league in discussing this subject. But I recall well a time when I was living in the Los Angeles area and went to a drug store to get ear wax medication. I had to go through four people before I found someone who spoke enough English to help me find what I wanted (which they were sold out of, of course). It was a very frustrating experience for me.

I have a great deal of respect for people who learn a second language. Me, the best I can do is muddle by in French, which isn’t exactly useful in Arizona. But you can bet your bottom dollar that if I moved somewhere where the primary language spoken was something other than English, I’d be doing my level best to learn that language.

All that I ask is that anyone who lives here in this country do the same.