Nov 1, 2009 -- 7:13PM, TemplarS wrote:

Well, coincidentally, this is true story which happened to me this weekend.

I was at a department store, and at the checkout was a woman (not sure about her ethnicity, possibly Indian).  She spoke English just fine- but her name tag said "Anal".

 

Now, that's a name I might change on my own...

LOL! I tried babylon.com to see if it can translate this name from Hindi to English and came up with zilch... Yep, I'd change that name too.... but I think we've achieved something very rare and therefore very precious in this thread... CONSENSUS that an employer shouldn't be permitted to force his employees to change their name.

Nov 1, 2009 -- 8:41PM, MilesB wrote:

Nov 1, 2009 -- 1:10PM, Stardove wrote:

Nov 1, 2009 -- 8:16AM, MilesB wrote:

The US has no official language.

Therefore, can not require it of new citizens.

It's ridiculous to believe in Free Speech and require one to speak in a certain language anyway. A few states still conduct official events/administratively multi lingually.

I am all for becoming a multi lingual society. If my country put to vote for it, I'd vote FOR it. It should be up to the community and state if they wish to practice like that.

This hum-drum about English only baffles me. I didn't see the ones who came on the boats the first time forcing everyone to learn the native language :P.

What comes around, goes around.

True the USA has no official language, but it order to become a citizen English is a must in most cases.

Do I need to be able to speak English to become a U.S. citizen?

Yes, you must be able to read, write, and speak simple English. There are some exceptions for some older and long-time residents, and for some disabled permanent residents.

 

And:  You must be able to read, write and speak English. This is straight forward and there is no room for compromise here. If you can’t read, write and speak English, you have to learn.

What do you think Simple English is?

I agree with Stardove. The language of this country is English. Generations who have come here before have learned it.

Exactly who is fighting that or is it a strawman? Are we encountering illiterate immigrants?

Twenty years ago I told my husband I would love to work in a program to teach standard American English to pre-schoolers who needed that help. I'm an English linguist. There was no such program.

Children who cannot speak, read and write standard American English tend to do poorly in school. Their parents have more trouble also. One group stands out--Asian Americans learn English and their children do more than well. We have a large Korean-American community in my county and their children are getting top honors in our school system.

I admire the French-speakers in Quebec Providence, but they were French-speaking from the beginning.

English has replaced French as the diplomatic language. All sorts of diversity is fine with me, but English is our national language and has always been.

@stardove -- doesn't get much more simple than that, eh?

Our courts are run and recorded in English

Our bills and laws are debated, voted on and recorded in English.

Presidential documents are in English

30 of our 50 states have English as an official language.

The second most common language in the US, Spanish is only spoken by 12% of the population.

91.4% of our population speaks English.

You must speak English to pass citizenship test.

If all of that does not make us, at least de facto,  officially English, I don't know what does.