US English Blog

For those who are worried that English is going away I recommend reading Dennis Baron's article "Don't Make English Official - Ban It Instead"! Baron wrote the article with humor, but still demonstrating how unrealistic it is to worry that English in the U.S. could really go away!
I recognize that the languages spoken in the U.S. are becoming more diverse, but I don't see it as a threat, I see it as an opportunity to expand our knowledge and understanding.
I don't think those who immigrate to the U.S. should have everything in the U.S. translated to thier native language, this would be way too expensive and wouldn't make sense. My husband immigrated to the U.S. several years ago and understood that he needed to learn English because it's the language of his new country, he didn't expect his new country to cater to his native language. However, he hasn't abandoned his native language, and now I'm also learning it! We can now use both languages, and have each gained a new language and lost nothing!
While I support those immigrating to the U.S. learning English, I don't think we need a law to make that happen. As Betty Bimer said in her article "Habla Español?" even those who immigrate here and don't learn English will have children who will learn English as well as retain thier native language, then the next generation (their grandchildren) learn English but not necessarily their grandparents' language. So based on history, even immigrant families end up speaking more English than their native language within just a couple of generations.
Add to this the prominence of English (and the preference that many countries have to learn English as their second language) and how much English is used to conduct business in many different countries throughout the world and it doesn't look like English in the U.S. is going anywhere!