Why do so many Americans believe that to live in this country, everyone has to speak english 100% of the time?
969039
Oh! What a hot discussion. When a girl with flawless English explains native English speakers with poor spelling that she is discriminated as Spanish speaker and all... That proves only that we are on the eaves of great ethnic calamities in quite a nearest future. By the way I’d like to remind that Jesus spoke Greek as Greek was common in Palestine at those day, Jewish was a dead language by the time. It’s always easy to start a civil war, it’s difficult to stop it – see Afghanistan!
940918
We dont have an accent....we all sound the same. It's Americans (who all sound different) who have the accent.
901317
Well educated people of all races speak alike.For example do Colin Powell or Condalesa Rice speak differently than the Clintons.Not really.People speak the local dialect,where ever they are,Do white americans in NY speak the same as thier counterparts in Tex. or CA Not very likely.People from the ghetto  regardless of color speak the same.Similiarly the citizens from the more affluent suburbs speak better english.Again the wealthier people speak proper english regardless of color.It's nothing to do with race but environment and wealth.
500365
Americans wants to use something fancy, that's why they say "cool" and \nBritishers wants to speak perfect English,that's why they say "nice".
1152518
So true! But then again, shouldn't someone have made sure that he could speak English before he even became the president? Someone let it slip by, and now look what we're stuck with.
1021366
English should always be considered the US National Language. It doesn't even make sense to consider otherwise. It's obvious there is a lot of controversy regarding all the millions of immigrants from all over the world, specially those with hispanic descendancy, however, they were the ones who came to United States, an English speaking country, to try and make a better life and secure a better future than their homeland can provide, so it's only natural they have to learn English and adjust themselves with American society, it wouldn't make sense if thousands of Americans decided to invade China or Brazil as their new home, start demanding left and right immigrant rights, trying to change things for how they want it to be. It should definitely be mandatory for everyone wanting to live in US soil to learn, speak, read and understand English.
859408
Yes.  If you are too lazy to learn English and you live in America, then you shouldnt get to make decisions on politics.  Its sad when people come here and dont want to be American,.... why come here then?  Stay where you can speak your native tongue.  My Grandparents came here and only knew their language and learned English because they wanted to be American, out of respect and because they knew this is the GREATEST country to live in and make something for yourself.
959404
Never.  People who come into the United States ought to learn American English.
220824
No, because that's like requiring them to risk their lives!  The definition of most ALL Americans is "immigrants".  Except for Native Americans, everybody's ancestors immigrated here.\nInstead, they should be required to take and pass English, U.S. History, Economics and Government classes.  That will ensure they'll become contributing citizens of our society.
143950
I think it is a little extreme, but I can understand the frustration.  Here in Texas, I get annoyed when people of Hispanic origin refuse to learn English, and our society and government enables them to do this by not requiring immigrants to learn english, and even forcing government employees to speak spanish.  Also, our local and national businesses learn spanish to accomodate those who do not speak our language.\n\nI am all for immigration....that is what the makes the U.S. An intresting place to live, but I doubt that if I moved to Mexico or Spain or any other spanish speaking country, that they would learn english to accomadate me.  I understand why they would not....pride in their culture...we have the same and would appreciate immigrants having enough respect to learn it.  After all, it is free from our government.  \n\nSo, I guess my final thought on your question is that I agree that it is a little extreme to forbid it, but at the same time, I see why and understand the reason.\n\nTake care and God bless.
1131734
People can speak whatever language they want.  Just don't expect the Americans who speak English to change.  I think it'd be like going to France and forcing them to speak English.
473667
Ignorant individuals who cannot speak proper English, even though it is their native language and they have lived in America since birth.
366380
even though it's not official, most of the country speaks english
516802
I think because English people are sympathetic towards our American cousins and make that extra effort to not give in to frustration and correct their grammar/spelling at every other corner. Due to the fact that the language most Americans speak is also understood by most native English speakers then they justify it as being English.\nCalling it American would cause a political rift in Anglo-US relations and probably allow the spoken and written accuracy level of American to sink to even further lows than it has already. By keeping English as a role-model, they hope to at least retain some vestige of respect for the history and culture of their country.
543013
Americans and Englishmen have always found people willing to speak their language because it's useful; this has led to the arrogant assumption that English is spoken by everyone, or will be.  This accords well with the political and economic ambitions of the "neo-conservatives" as well as the old-fashioned English imperialists.\n\nFor better than 90 % of the world's population, English is not a means of communication. Indeed, it may be in decline as a subject of study:\nhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0226_040226_language.html\n\nEnglish is a very difficult language to learn unless you've been immersed in it since birth. English spelling is said to be more difficult than any other language except Gaelic. English grammar, although it may be fairly simple, is riddled with exceptions. Verbs are very often irregular. Many people just aren't going to devote several years of effort to learn it!  English has gained its present stature because of the current economic and political power of English-speaking countries. In the past, every super-power has briefly seen its native tongue used internationally: France, Spain, Portugal, the Roman empire. In fact, one of the main reasons why Esperanto was never adopted by the League of Nations was that France blocked efforts to adopt it. At the time, French was "the international language", and France expected it to stay that way forever. They were proven wrong within twenty years.\nAlthough many people all over the world study English and often think they speak it well, the number of people who can participate in a non-trivial conversation in English is very small outside English-speaking countries. Knowing English may be sufficient to survive as a tourist in many places, but not for most. \n\nMe, I speak English; but I'd rather we all learned Esperanto!
569306
No doubt! My 7th-grader learns a foriegn language every 2 weeks in school. 2 weeks is not enough time for one thing. It only causes them to run all the languages together. And why should they even do it? The language in America anymore seems to be Spanish. You can't even order a cheeseburger without hearing a foreign language. It kills me to go to the counter of McDonalds,speak to an American,in American, & watch them turn around and yell in Spanish so they can be understood. We have to many homeless people here to have all the foreigners over here working our jobs. The high school kids needing a summer job is gonna have problems finding them because they've been givin' to foriegners who can't even speak our language!! Gets me fired up fast!!!
462655
Beacause Americans are too lazy to learn something interesting in a classroom and are always playing video games all day long and watching too much garbage on TV!!!! I for one was born here in the U.S. know what part of the world a country is located and I'm bilingual so that makes me smarter than the one-dimensional, one language American that wants to be ignorant and dumb. Most Americans don't even know how to read a gas gauge on a car when it runs out empty on them.