Should Immigrants Learn English Essay

1324 Words3 Pages

Should Immigrants be required to Learn English? Who is an immigrant? An immigrant is a person who has a citizenship in one country but enters another country to set up as a permanent resident. Sometimes countries are suffering greatly from lack of leadership, internal strife or war, and a collapsed economy. This is the case in Somalia, as well as in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Syrian people are moving to Europe in order to find a peaceful home. Mexican immigrants come to the US looking for jobs. The people then move to new countries where they don’t speak the national language. In America, when the immigrants come, there are many difficulties: cultural differences regarding time and scheduling, transportation issues, and language difficulties. …show more content…

For example, if immigrants learn English they can understand a doctor’s prescription and follow the instructions correctly. Misunderstanding the language may lead the patients to take an excess dose, which may lead to the patient’s death. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2013, 22,767 people died because of prescription drug overdose. There are translators in the hospital, but not enough to demand. One possible critical need for English is in the case of an emergency, such as a house fire or car accident. The resident (or motorist) must be able to summon help from agencies whose operators only speak English. If they can’t make themselves understood by the operator, the operator may not understand the kind of help they need. They even need to understand the native speakers who come to help them. In addition, they should learn the English language, because if they come across a robber, they would know how to inform the police and to get help as soon as possible. It helps for them to gain the ability to understand the road signs, street numbers and even to give the directions to a site if they lose their location. Moreover, the road speed limits need to be understood because of speed limit changes inside towns. Knowing English then helps in avoiding accidents. Awareness of road signs, of construction, and of closed roads leads to an understanding of road conditions. English is a widely …show more content…

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

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