English as The Official Language of the United States

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The debate of instituting English as the official language in the United States is a debate that has been going on for centuries. Many people believe that English should be the official language because we are American, and Americans speak English. However, many of those people fail to realize that we all come from different heritages and corners of the world. Language should be an art of expression, one where people of all heritages and backgrounds can speak in the language that they have learned. Implementing English as the official language in the United States would be to essentially ignore and disrespect all of the heritages, nationalities, and religions that make the United States a unique place to live. The United States is unique because of the melting pot effect, referring to all the different kinds of people living in one place, expressing anything they want too without consequences. In households all across the United States, families are speaking languages that either are a result of their heritage, or language they choose to speak around each other. However, these families know that once they get out into the real world in the United States, they are going to have to know English. English is the most dominant language in the world, and in order to do business in the most powerful country in the world, people are going to need to speak and read English. In France, many business students are being told to learn English, because “English is becoming as commonplace as creeping ivy and mortarboards” (Carvajal). Professors are telling French students to learn the English ways, because not only is that where the jobs are, but in order to communicate with the most important people in business, they must know English... ... middle of paper ... ...d cannot live it. Works Cited Carvajal, Doreen. "In Many Business Schools, the Bottom Line is English." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2007. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. . Marquez, Myriam. "Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public." Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. Ed. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 2009. 542-43. Print. Mujica, Mauro. "Why the U.S. Needs an Official Language." The World & I. N.p., Dec. 2003. Web. 26 Mar. 2010. . Salais, Leticia. "Saying 'Adios' to Spanglish." Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. Ed. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford-St. Martin's, 2009. 545-47. Print.

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