[Jaine Perotti]

What exactly are the pros and cons of having English as our official language?

I can see the benefit being that signs, communications, publications, etc. would be standardized so that communication would be easier (in an ideal world).

But the truth is, not everyone in this country speaks English, and not everybody is going to learn how. Making English the official language could serve as yet another barrier which places newcomers to this country on a lower level than "the rest of us" (I don't really know how to refer to the "old immigrants" - essentially people of European descent such as myself - because technically they are newcomers to this country too - the difference being that we have been here for just a few more generations). This language barrier would create an additional hardship to immigrants seeking employment.

Plus, I think that the more languages Americans experience, the more we can appreciate this country's diversity. America is an extraordinary amalgamate of the best that cultures from around the world have to offer. Celebrating the differences - be it language, tradition, or culture - will allow us to draw upon the great things from each part of the world.

Language also opens worlds of opportunity in terms of careers - there is a great shortage of multi-lingual professionals in this country. Many jobs go unfilled each year because the job position requires proficiency in multiple languages. Take the engineering world, for instance - I'm thanking my lucky stars that I chose to take German in high school, because Germany is a very important contributer to the science and engineering fields. Also, countries such as Japan, China, and India are major players in the engineering world. If only I could have taken Japanese, Chinese, and Hindi too!

I think the emphasis on an offical language would be detrimental to America's ability to be more aware of the world outside of the "Anglo-Saxon culture bubble". Already, this country has shown great ignorance of the rest of the world (ie. being unaware of the consequences of military invasion), and we are in desperate need to show some awareness. We should all make the effort to be as multi-lingual as possible, so that both immigrants and natural born American citizens can have equal access to the things they have to offer each other.

What do you think?