As a Professor of English, I Have to Say...

[ProudLib72]

Screw this "English only" crap that conservatives have been pushing for years and that Miller brought up today. Language is intrinsically tied to culture. "English only" is a means of forcing foreigners to adopt American culture at the same time that it teaches them their own culture is worthless (has no place in our country). America does not have an official language for a reason. If we adopt English only, we might as well force young girls to play with Barbie and young boys to play with GI Joe because they represent the roles our culture finds "acceptable". "Behave like the majority!" To hell with that shit! Conservatives are NOT the majority, and they do not get to control culture. The day I stop hearing different languages spoken in this country is the day I deem America officially dead.

[Eko]

1. The first european

language spoken here was Spanish. Maybe we should all have to learn spanish lol.

[ProudLib72]

2. Absolutely!

I lived for a few years in NM. A lot of people spoke only Spanish. Never bothered me one bit. I was just a little upset that my Spanish was so mediocre.

[Quanta]

6. Exactly

I've been in FL pretty much all my life, and have traveled for work a lot. Spent 4 months in Mexico City, and fell in love with the language AND the people. I actually enjoy getting the chance to practice, and wish I could speak it better. But, it is always pleasant when a native Spanish speaker sort of chuckles at me and tries to coach me a bit. I appreciate that, and welcome it.

[janx]

8. What you heard here was some Spanish, but the New Mexican Spanish for the most part spoken here

is different. A colleague in my department from El Salvador claims it isn't Spanish at all...

In other words, some of our students born and raised in New Mexico think they can speak Spanish, but it's a real mash up. It's beautiful, really.

[mwooldri]

23. Some might argue it was the Vikings.

So are we all going to learn Norweigan now?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. I'm working on it.

An interesting language, a little like German - a fair amount of the vocabulary is similar though usually pronounced differently, but the grammar is simpler, more like English. But the Vikings would have spoken Old Norse, which survives almost intact in the Icelandic language.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

41. Others would argue it was the Irish

St Brendan might have sailed here in the sixth century, a few hundred years before the Vikings.

So, are we all going to have to drink a Guinness now?

Cheers!

[madinmaryland]

52. Wait, what? The first humans came to North America

And settled it 13000 years ago. They came from Russia. Hmmmm. Maybe we all here are Russians!!

[BigmanPigman]

3. As a former elementary school teacher in Southern California

I have found multi lingual students an asset to to the classroom environment and culture. In fact, I prefer and have encouraged it in other areas and schools. I have learned so much from the atmosphere of many cultures and languages and have personally benefited in many ways from my experiences.

[llmart]

4. My 20 month old grandbaby...

goes to a daycare where the always have at least one Spanish speaking teacher and I love it! She already knows how to count to three and it's so much fun to hear her.

[bhikkhu]

5. I truly love to hear other languages

Maybe its something that reminds me that we're not alone in the world, and that people from all around still appreciate America.

At a visit to a national park last weekend I heard French, German, Japanese, and a couple more languages I didn't recognize. "All is not lost", I think.

[brer cat]

7. We have new Vietnamese neighbors.

One of the women speaks only Vietnamese and it sounds like singing. Quite beautiful. I have no idea what she is saying but I love to hear her.

[Mike__M]

9. This is America

Speak Sƛ'púmš! (If you can -- I can't.)

So many languages are going, and the insights they hold go with them.

[janx]

21. +1000

[JHB]

10. Actually, I'm an advocate of "conservatives should speak English only"...

...not the dialect they have which has many of the same words, but they have completely different meanings from standard English.

You know, like when they talk about "European Socialism" as if they were talking about the Warsaw Pact instead of the EU/G7.

[bobbieinok]

11. Odd thing I heard growing up after WWII

There were comments that it was too bad all the kids of immigrant families had been encouraged to not speak their parents' and grandparents' languages. Think of all the language skills we would have had among the soldiers.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

27. There has always been a tension with the children

of immigrants about learning/speaking/keeping the parents' language, and moving to English only.

My mother was born in 1916 on Long Island to Irish immigrant parents. (Thanks to the English colonization of their island, they arrived speaking only English.) Most of her childhood classmates had parents whose first language was something other than English, and I recall my mom talking about the fact that so many of them more or less refused to learn the home language.

I have a good friend who is Italian on his mother's side, Slovak on his father's. Both parents were born here but grew up speaking both languages. My friend learned Italian as a child because there were still so many of the older relatives still around, although his two younger brothers didn't learn it. But his father never spoke Slovak. He said that he was an American, and that his children only needed English. Mind you, he didn't object to their learning Italian, but had not interest in teaching his home language to his children. That's a shame, I think.

And actually, there were lots of our soldiers in WWII who were fluent in other languages. Maybe not as many as there could have been, but still, plenty.

[janx]

12. Here's the problem with this ridiculous demand from the Trumpsky administration:

In order to really speak a language, you have to immerse yourself in the culture. Sure, you can take some excellent language classes and learn how to do more than ask where the bathroom is or order your favorite kind of wine or cream in your coffee, but you have to go LIVE where that language is spoken to become fluent in it.

See where this is going?

Just how proficient in English does this administration want people to be before they can come here? That's why Costa's question about Australia or England was so accurate. Throughout most of our history, immigrants came here and learned the language while retaining aspects of their own culture and language. A student of mine from Mexico had trouble adjusting to English at first, but she was a quick study. (It has been my experience that people from Mexico think their English is worse than it is.) A few years later, we had a talk about her language and culture, and she told me that she didn't want to lose too much of her language because she was afraid she would lose a good part of that culture. She is still on campus now as a graduate student, her English is excellent, and her Spanish is still going strong. True, on campus she has a small international community, so I don't think she feels that sense of loss.

So if an immigrant has to meet the test of speaking English, how far does that test go? It's ludicrous.

[ProudLib72]

15. I have a funny story about this

This summer I taught a freshman English comp class. One of my students is from Nigeria. I assumed incorrectly that her first language was something besides English. For her first essay, she wrote about how she struggled in Yoruba class in Nigeria and that, for years, her classmates would make fun of her pronunciation.

I have another student who is from Cote d'Ivoire. She speaks English very well but with just a slight accent. She was telling me how she went from Cote d'Ivoire to Germany and finally to this country. So English is her third language. Every once in awhile, she insists on speaking to me in French because she thinks I understand (I've never taken any French). I think it's funny that her first language is, literally, the lingua franca that so many Americans cultivated through the middle of the 20th century. According to American cultural beliefs from 60 years ago, this woman represents the height of refinement, yet she is black and from a foreign country. If she were white and had been born in America, she would receive elite status.

[janx]

17. Thank god this isn't 60 years ago!

I appreciate every student, as you do. God, I've studied languages similar to my own, but there are students showing up every semester that best me in language, times two or three. I've been teaching small groups of Chinese students recently in addition to other standard courses. It is delightful.

I've assumed that a student from Africa has a French accent and so must have spoken French as a native language, only to find out that the native language was not French, but a more localized language with a slight French accent. Hell, many years ago I assumed that a Muslim from the northeast portion of Africa sounded French until I learned differently.

Your student has elite status right now.

[ProudLib72]

19. True!

She has elite status now!

I have been guilty of losing patience with ESL students. I admit it. But when I become frustrated I have to remind myself that I have studied half a dozen languages and never become "fluent" in any of them. Those in which I have come closest presented no end of difficulty for me. I studied my butt off! Some of the students who enter my classes have only been in the country a few months or a year. I have no idea how they managed to learn as much English as they have.

[janx]

22. The students I work with are not only dealing with that, but are also studying the sciences.

It's a trip.

I get exasperated sometimes and then realize that they are studying biological science, engineering in a foreign language! They had some compulsory English in their schools, but they can't really speak it or write it well.

Brave young people! I must say that I deviate from the curriculum sometimes to discuss animals, climate, food, etc.. It's so much fun.

[Awsi Dooger]

13. I wish my mom had spoken Spanish at home

She was born in Lima, Peru while my grandfather was stationed there doing work for Pan Am airlines. Later the family lived in Columbia for the same reason. By the time they returned to the United States when mom was 5 she knew perfect Spanish and retained it all her life. I have no idea why she was reluctant to speak Spanish at home. All the kids could have benefitted. This was in Miami which was not Hispanic at the time. Now obviously it would aid me tremendously since I've returned to Miami. My Spanish is choppy at best.

It's also an awkward topic here year long. Various Miami area forums have lots of posts attacking the trend toward more and more Latino. I'm sure the Republicans are trying to seize upon that in Dade County, going after the remaining white non-Hispanic vote. I've seen evidence of it.

The city has changed dramatically in 4+ decades. But day to day it's really not a big deal. Sure there are areas like Hialeah or Doral where you can expect to enter a business and not have much English available, if any. But once you learn to handicap the various regions of town there are very few problems. Generally it's a positive experience when there's a minor language barrier and both sides smile and work through it. That is far more common that what outsiders report. They'll fly into Miami and have some experience near the airport, or wherever, in which they hear Spanish first and suddenly they start screaming that nobody in Miami speaks English anymore. I see that theme all the time on various sports forums I frequent.

The only minor annoyance recently was that the Winn Dixie grocery chain changed many of their local stores to Fresco y Mas, including two stores close to me that I visit often. Previously as Winn Dixie the employees had to know English at least somewhat but now that the store is aimed at the Hispanic crowd the hiring practices have obviously changed dramatically because I've had checkout experiences at both stores in which the female clerk could not converse in English at all. Not one word. I knew that theme would show up on Miami area forums and sure enough I saw it within two weeks. Winn Dixie is struggling to stay alive here because Publix is extremely popular.

[haveahart]

14. We are the most ignorant western country about foreign language.

We should be teaching Spanish beginning in 1st grade as a requirement in public schools and Russian and Chinese, German or French as electives.

[janx]

18. Any foreign language would be helpful in the early grades.

I went to a public school where they started foreign language offerings in 7th grade. That was good, but especially today, it should be taught earlier.

[mwooldri]

25. With the exception of Canada, I'd probably argue the whole Anglophone world has language issues.

Australia, New Zealand, the UK... countries where English is supposedly the native language.

I also think that learning a foreign language also comes down to needs and wants - you have to have a need and a want to learn it. I have no need to learn Japanese, but I'd want to learn it. I have a need to learn Mandarin Chinese, but no desire to do so. I have enough problems with the computer languages I work with at work

[WinkyDink]

44. Need dictates. Moreover, public education is not about offering (affording) more these days.

[kskiska]

16. And yet, the same "English only" people

praise Melania Trump for her purported ability to "speak 5 (or 6) languages fluently.

[ProudLib72]

20. It is impressive

when you consider that is 5 or 6 more than her estranged husband knows.

[janx]

24. . . .

[kskiska]

55. Fernando Lamas quote

“When a person has an accent, it means he can speak one more language than you”
-- Fernando Lamas

[fierywoman]

29. I doubt she speaks a number of languages fluently.

For one thing, if her French was fluent, she would have spoken it the whole time she was with those kids in Paris. I think if sh was truly fluent in many languages her English would be much better. I would bet she speaks a lot of Russian, although no one ever mentions it. Everyone who grew up behind the Iron Curtain in those years when she was a kid spoke Russian.

[lunasun]

30. Purported.... Don't forget her purported college degree

[Warren DeMontague]

38. The "English Only" people

Don't do such a good job with English.

[kskiska]

54. Elian Gonzales was illegal and didn't speak English

They didn't want him to go home.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. I live in New Mexico,

and I'm constantly impressed that the many locals who are fully bilingual always address me in English. Okay, so I don't look remotely Hispanic, but I'm still fascinated by the effortless bilingualism of so many.

I also know people here who are Hispanic and speak only English, and can get very annoyed when the are expected to know Spanish.

[ProudLib72]

40. The other thing you notice in NM

is the mixing of anglo and Hispanic cultures without any evidence of competition. Here in Denver metro there are Hispanic neighborhoods, but they seem distinctly separate from the other neighborhoods. Not so in NM. I got the feeling living there that both cultures were equal.

When I moved away for graduate school in CT I still had NM license plates on my car. People in New England would comment on how good my English was because they didn't know NM was a US state. Whenever that happened, I wished I could just go back to NM where nobody cared how good or bad your English or Spanish was.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

42. Interesting point about the lack of competition between the two cultures.

I hadn't actually thought about it this way.

I have not yet (after nine years of living here) had anyone think this was another country. I'd both laugh out loud at them and then conduct a brief geography quiz. Such as, "What state keeps Arizona and Texas from crashing into each other?" Complete with maps.

[ProudLib72]

48. It happened to me maybe four times

I wanted to ask them something about being British since they were from New England, but it wouldn't have made sense at the time. It's amazing that people on the east coast have no idea about the geography of the rest of the country. Yeah, there are some fly over states in the middle, a big question mark down in the south west corner, and California on the west coast.

However, the same thing happens abroad. I had a guy in Ireland ask me how far it was from Philly to NY. He thought I should know that because I was an American.

[czarjak]

31. Spent the day at The Grand Canyon, never thought there'd be so many foreigners visiting...

With the Orange Overlord in office.

[volstork]

32. Every European I know

Speaks no less than three languages, and most speak four or five with relative fluency.
The word we SHOULD abhor is "provincial," not "cosmopolitan."

[tclambert]

33. I'm reminded of a story I heard here on DU:

A man standing in line to checkout at the grocery store took a phone call and spoke in a foreign-sounding language. The conservative idiot behind him said, "This is America! Learn to speak English or go back where you came from!"

The man with the phone turned and replied, "I'm speaking Navajo, dumbass."

[Alice11111]

35. Good story, though I can't imagine the Navajos I know

saying that.

[tclambert]

45. I may not have remembered it correctly word for word.

And I'm way too lazy to look it up. But did that matter when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No, 'cause I was on a roll.

[3catwoman3]

36. Game. Set. Match!

I would have paid to see that.

[ProudLib72]

49. Trouble is that most conservative dumbasses

wouldn't recognize that Navajo was a native American language, so the reply wouldn't make them think twice. They'd probably just continue with their diatribe against foreign languages.

[Alice11111]

34. Canada requires that you speak either English or French to

become a citizen. Obvioysly, most of the refugees from Syria do not, but Canada enrolls them in language classes to learn. Imagine that logic.

I would be fine with the US adopting Spanish as a sevond language. It is a fundamental part of our history.

[area51]

37. Can't resist posting this for an English professor. :)

[ProudLib72]

39. Apostrophe's, and, commas are the bane of my existence!

That cartoon is an accurate portrayal of me grading papers. Who would have thought that a mere flyspeck could cause so much consternation?

[WinkyDink]

43. "English Only," or "English Official"? Because there's a huge difference in terms of legal forms,

signs, public education, and so on and so on.

[CrispyQ]

47. Dear American Citizen,

Your continued citizenship depends on filling in the below form correctly.



Sincerely,

Uncle Sam & Lady Liberty

[ProudLib72]

50. In eighth grade my English teacher had a clever method of correcting our mistakes

He had a cow bone (probably a humerus) that he had painted pink with polka dots. When someone made a stupid mistake, he would tap them on the head with the bone. Everyone knew about Mr. Rigler's bone, and nobody wanted to be a bonehead. I know I got the bone at least once, and it was embarrassing.

Now if we could just tap conservatives on the head with a bone when they said something moronic the world would be a better place.

[thucythucy]

51. Joke a German friend told me:

Q: What do you call someone who speaks three languages?

A: Trilingual.

Q: What do you call someone who speaks two languages?

A: Bilingual.

Q: What do you call someone who speaks only one language?

A: American.

I did point out that this was a stereotype, but only after I laughed.

[ProudLib72]

53. If you think about European countries smaller size

and the ease with which one can travel from, say, Germany to France to Spain, then it's obvious that Europeans need to be multilingual. In this country, however, there is no such need. Therefore, it is easy to deem English only as a part of our culture. Some might even say it is what unites us. It's backwards thinking for sure.

One time we were on a family vacation somewhere in Utah. My dad stopped at a gas station to ask directions to the next town that was fifty or sixty miles away. The person he asked told him he had never been that far out of his own town so he didn't know. Can you imagine living in the same small town your entire life and never going further than a few miles outside of its boundaries? I think it would be interesting to do a survey of small towns in America to find out how many people spend their existence isolated like that.

[thucythucy]

57. This country has always been more multi-lingual

than the English only partisans will admit.

About a quarter of the nation used to be part of Mexico, with generations of Spanish speakers.

Buffalo New York once boasted the largest Polish speaking population in the world, outside of Warsaw.

St. Louis used to have several German language daily newspapers. (All closed during the anti-German anti-immigrant hysteria of World War I). Chinese and Japanese speaking enclaves in California, Portuguese in New England, Vietnamese in Texas...

I agree though, it's easier to be multi-lingual in an environment such as Europe, more difficult in the context of a continent wide nation such as the US. But being actively anti-multi-lingual, as so many Americans seem to be, isn't any great help either.

[ProudLib72]

58. There was a stigma associated with those languages

You know, the grandparents spoke it, but the parents refused to speak it. Now the kids want to know it, but the grandparents who could have taught it to them are gone.

At some level, I think the concept of America as a melting pot meant that foreigners were welcome, but homogeneity was the goal. Those parents wanted their kids to fit in with the rest of society so they would have an easier time of it. That concept has changed in the last couple of decades, though. Now there seems to be more pride in one's ancestry. If that is truly the case, I have to wonder if English only is backlash against that new found pride of diversity. I don't really understand that sentiment because diversity seems much more interesting.

[panader0]

56. One of my favorite classes in school was 'Origins of the English Language'

English borrows heavily from many languages. Life experience is like an ocean.
Language is but a net tossed into that sea, and when it is drawn back, it does
not capture the sea, but it is wet. The more accumulation of experience, through
languages, the better.