There are many points of view how to look at impacts on U.S. English. For example, I, as a foreigner, came to United States for only reason to learn proper English language. Everywhere in Europe it is important to know at least two foreign languages in order to keep up with the world development. In my case, when I was deciding where to go to school I was considering two places, schools in Florida and in Utah. Even though Florida is a very nice place to live, I did not hesitate to pick Utah as my future school for only reason: In Utah I will be able to learn better English than in Florida because in Florida there are many Spanish-speaking people who can influence my learning process of this world power language. I simply wanted to understand the language I can use in Britain, and other countries. I did not want to learn Spanish or any other languages that here in the U.S. assimilate into English. This is the only possibility when I would suggest an idea to persuade the immigrants or foreign speaking people to learn English in a proper manner. It definitely opens door to the world’s society. From my standpoint, Spanish or other languages may be a warning for English language nevertheless, this should a concern for people outside of this country, the foreigners that do know the language and come here to learn English. For American people who are raised among American cultures English is not threatened by Spanish.
On the other hand, I have been in United States for 2 years therefore, I can look at process of learning English from other point of view. America-United States- is considered as a melting pot of the world. All races and cultures are mixed up together in one large country. People of different cultures are more than welcome to come to the U.S. to fulfill their American Dream. That’s the U.S main motto. Nevertheless, as I read the article, they are not welcome if they do not speak language!? It is horrifying to read Baron’s text saying people can be actually punished for not speaking English. You cannot force people of different cultures to stop speaking their native language. I have learned at school in Czech Republic that United States is a multicultural powerful country. That means that mix of cultures brings mix of languages.
My experience is that English is and will be a dominant official language in U.S. because of pressure of world society that will push people to know the proper English. Yes, in some parts of this country Spanish or other languages can be more employed because of appearance of many foreigners in that certain area. However, these languages will not overwhelm English in a larger scale.
2 comments:
Thank you Misha! Its fascinating to see things from your point of view. I agree that its horrifying to think you can be punished for not speaking english. I don't know why people are pressured to not speak their native languages, once they come here. Actually I think its sad. Especially when kids of immigrants learn only english, and then they can't communicate with their grandparents or even parents. Think of all the opportunity for learning and shared heritage lost!:( In general I think people just need to be kinder to everbody. When doesn't the golden rule apply?
I find this a fascinating article. I think that it is very important and Americans are sometimes very lazy and don't want to expand the knowledge that they could have upon learning a foriegn language. I find it interesting. I learned a year of german in highschool. why are so many others scared?
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