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English language unites people Multiple languages divide nations
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Carol Helm: Let us all be proud of our heritage, nation and state, and encourage our immigrants to become self-sustaining Americans.
By CAROL HELM
Published: 2/15/2009 2:20 AM
Last Modified: 2/15/2009 4:09 AM
Tulsaworld.com.
Copyright © 2009, World Publishing Co
Carol Helm is founder and director of the Oklahoma-based Immigration Reform for Oklahoma Now (IRON).
http://www.tulsaworld.com/
(Please note Link takes you to the home page of the Tulsa World site, search for the article from there. The site also has a PDF file of the article. 16-02-2009)
"Passage of legislation to make English the state's official Language will prevent Oklahomans from being compelled to deliver taxpayer-funded services in the 119 languages currently spoken in Oklahoma. It will eliminate enormous printing costs of ballots, registration forms, brochures and signs for cities, county and state agencies."
(Mast paragraph that appears before the article; quoted in full as fair use)
"Language unites people. Multiple languages divide nations."
Comment
Carol Helm writes an article about the financial costs and tribulations of having different languages spoken in a State. And providing services in different languages.
This is a sentiment which I share myself and have expressed in my previous posts in 2008:
Language, disuniting domains
http://lawlang.blogspot.com/2008/05/language-disuniting-domains.html
Should we speak more than one language?
http://lawlang.blogspot.com/2008/08/should-we-speak-more-than-one-language.html
As an English teacher and professional language services provider I quite understand the problems and issues people face when having to learn English. Part of the problem is a misunderstanding of the complexities of English, some of which are created by marketing strategies of publishers and language schools. Some is just pure mythology.
At least English is not about getting the grammar right, it is about communicating with others. Most people are not interested in your grammar, but only in what you have to say.
However, there is also an underlying issue here. A desire to learn the language. And by learning I do not mean being super proficient in the language but knowing enough for example to communicate with your GP at least on basic matters.
The question immigrants have to ask themselves, and I am an expat living in Spain, is: do I want to learn enough to communicate in the language of the country I am living in? I am not one to automatically advocating going through the rigmaroles of having to take boring language classes. But a minimum functional knowledge of a local language can be achieved with little or no effort.
The question is who has the duty to care: the native speaker or the non native language speaker? Of course, cooperation is always a good strategy.
Language unites us, languages keep us divided. Do you have anything to tell us?
Tags: Language, native speakers, Language unites us languages keep us divided, English, common language
