"By emphasizing the importance of a common language, we safeguard a proud legacy and help to ensure that America's future will be as great as her past." Ronald Reagan described it best. A vital part of any culture is language. Without language, there would be no communication, no conversation, no debate. I believe when immigrants come to America, a crucial part of their acceptance is whether or not they know the English language. In a census done by the US Census Bureau in 2011, it showed that 79% of the population speaks only English at home while only 21% spoke a language other than English at home. Meanwhile, of that 21%, 58.2% spoke English very well (Ryan). This shows how vital the English language is to American culture and how it is imperative for English to be a requirement for immigrants when they come to America. Not only when people immigrate here, but to other countries as well, I believe that it is, in some ways, a common courtesy to learn the native language. In comparison to other countries you can immigrate to, America is one of the best. America …show more content…
Learning English should be a requirement to enter the United States. As stated by Sean Kennedy in a CNN article Learning English Should Be Part of the American Experience “Moreover, it threatens social cohesion as immigrants become socially isolated from the mainstream and resentment boils up that an influx of non-English-speaking people is upending traditional American customs. The ties that bind the ‘little platoons’ of society together grow frayed and break in ugly ways (Kennedy).” In this, he is trying to explain that when immigrants come to America and they do not know English then they are already presenting themselves as “outsiders.” They do not fit into society when they cannot speak English, they rely on each other and so they never fully integrate into
The society will be less divided and will function better under a common language. Although English-only movement has close connections to restrictionist, anti-immigration organizations, which suggests that the English-only movement has a wider, more far-reaching, and more negative agenda than simply advocating an official English language policy, English should be the official language of United States for two main reasons: first, In 1990 US census reported that 97.1 % of the US population speak English; second and most importantly, making English the official language of the United States refers solely to the language of the government, not of the people, private business, classrooms, or more. In addition, declare English the official language of the United States would make easier business and negotiations, more people will be able to participate in democracy system, the population will have a better understanding of laws, and the diversity of languages spoken in the US will not be affect, indeed, it would have an
In this country, we live in a mix culture and a mix race. When we walk out in the street, the first thing we notice is people from different ethnicities. The United States has always been the country where we come to make our dreams come true. Yet we never forget the country we came from. The languages is one thing we do not forget about our country but we should also know the English language. In this country it is essential for a person to know 2 or more languages. Regardless of how many languages we know, we all have a language we prefer over the other.
Immigration has existed around the world for centuries, decades, and included hundreds of cultures. Tired of poverty, a lack of opportunities, unequal treatment, political corruption, and lacking any choice, many decided to emigrate from their country of birth to seek new opportunities and a new and better life in another country, to settle a future for their families, to work hard and earn a place in life. As the nation of the opportunities, land of the dreams, and because of its foundation of a better, more equal world for all, the United States of America has been a point of hope for many of those people. A lot of nationals around the world have ended their research for a place to call home in the United States of America. By analyzing primary sources and the secondary sources to back up the information, one could find out about what Chinese, Italians, Swedish, and Vietnamese immigrants have experienced in the United States in different time periods from 1865 to 1990.
The United States of America has the largest foreign-born population in the world. With nearly thirteen percent of the total population being foreign-born, one may find it hard to imagine an immigrant-free country (U.S. Bureau of the Census). Immigration has been an integral part of the United States’ overall success and the country’s economy since it was established and without it, would have never been founded at all. Although there are some negative issues associated with immigration and many native-born Americans believe to be more of a problem than a solution, overall it actually has a positive effect. Immigrants in America, among other things, fill jobs where native-born Americans may not want to work or cannot work, they contribute to Social Services and Medicaid through taxes and they help provide the backbone of America, especially by working jobs that natives may have not even considered.
From the time the Pilgrims landed in this great nation at Plymouth Rock, immigrants have been culturally diverse and have spoken many languages. When the Pilgrims arrived in the New World, they did not know how to communicate with the natives. Through intense study the natives learned the Pilgrims’ language. Even with the common language they were still a melting pot of different culture. Some would say that America has gotten over the language/ cultural barriers and now almost everyone speaks the common language of English, but there are still many immigrants who do not know English. Bilingual education is put into public schools for this reason, so that immigrant children can be assimilated to English gradually. The national language should be English instead of the official language because America has prided herself in being very diverse. If we take away the diversity, then we take away the core values that America has always had since her founding.
Language is part of the few benefits that immigrants bring with their culture. United States benefits from cultures of the many immigrants that migrate to the U.S. the variation of different languages brings great benefit to the U.
Some would say, quotes John F. Kennedy, “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.” Thus, in today’s society, we can say that immigrants are what made America possible—economically and socially. We are in a melting pot era where the impossible was made possible. From the time John F. Kennedy was elected in 1960, making a promise to change the national origins system to unite the nations of all countries equally. Hence, in 1965, under Lyndon Johnson’s administration, Kennedy’s promise came into light, amending the INS—favoring unification of families, not national origins. Although, the unification was made possible, the peacefulness never lasted.
Lorna Dee Cervantes said that: “the children run to me, laughing, spinning me blind and silly. They call to me in words of another language.” (lines2-4) I can feel her loneliness through her poem. Because she doesn’t feel she is American or Mexican, even though she doesn’t know who she is. The Native Mexicans call her a prostitute because she gets the influence from America for a long time. Cervantes thinks isn’t her fault, is her ancestor’s fault because she can’t control that. So that’s why I think immigrants should keep their “old language” alive. If we learn English and don’t know our own language, we won’t be able to communicate with our cousin. Even when we came back to our home country, we can’t communicate with other people. I don’t want to feel like I am a stranger in our home.
America would not be America without immigrants. In addition to America having been founded by immigrants, the nation was literally ‘built’ by immigrants. In 1565, Spanish explorers established Augustine, Florida which is America’s oldest known colony. However, the largest early colony of immigrants were the English colonists who settled in Jamestown,Virgina and Plymouth, Massachusetts. These English colonists, known as the Puritans, came to America in the early 1600’s. Soon, people from various different countries were migrating to America. What would inspire families to pack up everything they had and emigrate? Why would they leave the only land they knew of as home and make a lengthy, and sometimes fatal, journey to an unfamiliar territory? What did the new land have to offer that was so much better than their original homeland? Even though it has been over four hundred years since the Spanish first settled in Augustine, immigrants from all over the world continue to migrate to America. Although there is no single reason for the vast number of immigrants that have flooded the shores of America, there is a common objective—opportunity. In the beginning, the English colonists sought freedom of religion—an opportunity to practice their religion separate from the Church of England. Other reasons include opportunities to escape poverty, disease, and social injustice. But what do immigrants do once they arrive in this new land of opportunity? Are the effects they have on America for the good or the bad? The overall impact of immigrants in America is astonishing.
America does not have an official language and is a nation of immigrants who come to a new land to make it their home. All Americans relate to immigrants or are immigrants themselves. In fact, since the beginning of American society, immigrants have come in search of a better life-one free of trouble and hardship they have left behind. Immigrants face a number of problems in a new community, when they arrive in a new country. Baharti Mukherjee explains in her article “Two Ways To Belong To America,” that weather immigrants get their citizenship or not, it is not an easy adjustment. Immigrants that take the step to become a citizen and to pay the price of self-transform to avoid being treated as an outsider, have
Immigration has been going on for a while now. When talking about it, it can have its ups and downs. In my opinion the main reason why people come to the United States is to have a better opportunity. A lot of countries now in days have a lot of issues including poverty, little job opportunities, and education. When talking about immigration it has a lot of push and pull factors. Push factors are circumstances that generally push people out of their native country. Pull factors are reasons or actions that attract people to another location.
These people will not be able to rise in their employment level and will be stuck working only with their fellow immigrants. They will have to find a person who can translate their language to others and get the services, such as medical assistance, they need, very much complicating all they do. Immigrants who have learned the English language have more respect in society. They get higher positions in jobs quickly, depending on their knowledge and also they can work as language translators for other immigrants who don’t speak English. This could actually be a job category with growth. Knowing English helps immigrants feel less isolated from their new community of English-speakers. They are able to socialize, make purchases, and function daily with their neighbors, their teachers, and their colleagues at
Since English is widely acknowledged as the language of “political and economic adaptability,” it is technically already the official language in practice if not in theory; an official declaration of a national language would be superfluous and redundant (Nature of Language, p. 98). Also, if an official declaration of an official language were to deny services such as translation and other benefits to foreign-born immigrants and their children—as nativists advocate—then such a declaration would only serve to subvert the progress that America has made over the past centuries as the world’s melting pot. Therefore, the U.S. does not need to declare English as the official language since that would exclude many non-English-speaking Americans who have just as many rights to services and benefits as other Americans do.
Of course, opponents of mandatory foreign language courses will say that immigrants and naturalized citizens should learn and speak the "de facto" official language of the United States--English. It is a valid point, but misses the bigger picture. People who speak English as a second language are already bilingual, while American-born students typically are not. Language is the most fundamental aspect of a culture. Students who learn the not-so-foreign language of the predominant minority group in their region of the country will gain at least some insight into the different cultures of their neighbors and perhaps have a better understanding of them at the personal level.
English is, almost certainly, the most important subject that a child can learn in school. Without knowing proper English, a child will not be able to communicate effectively with the English speaking nation. They would be shut off from education and other people in this country. A person who does not poses proper English limits his or her ability to achieve their highest potential. Knowledge of the English language is important to learn to be able to communicate with others, in the teaching of immigrant students, and in finding and maintaining a job.