Subject: english only ?

english only ? this is a reaction to the message by jack aubert . i can understand what you mean but i am not so sure whether you compare things with each other that actually should / can be compared . > however , this is not what " bi-lingualism " > really means in the u . s . it means making it easier for non - english speakers > to get through life without having to learn to speak english in the u . s . , the ( mistaken ) idea that english is the national language makes its easier for the people to take it for granted that one can very well get through life without having to learn any other language . since language learning also entails getting to know a different culture , most people miss the opportunity to learn about other ways of living , eating , etc . > national plural mono-lingualism is a curse ! for everything you say about this , you did not mention one single argument that it should be english that can be the national language and not spanish . what would you say about this if the number of citizens speaking spanish fluently outnumbers the amount of people who speak english fluently ? after all , the u . s . just tops off a continent where the great majority speaks spanish . why should they speak english at all , in that country to the north of latin - america ? > history has not saddled us with this curse , as it has done to > belgium , . . . most " ethnic " conflicts ( there are > counter-examples like the hutus and tutsis and the two flavors of irish ) > trace back to language . basque and catalan separatism is based on language . > canada may end up breaking into two states , each with its own disgruntled > linguistic minority . basque and catalan separatism is not based on language . why do we never hear anything about galician separatism on the iberian peninsula ? galician is a language very different from spanish ( and not so different from portuguese ) . the name of the region is galicia and is part of spain . galician is a language much older than spanish itself : it was used for poetry and by the kings in ancient times . still , we do not hear a lot about galician separatism . neither do we hear anything about leonese separatism , aragonese separatism , andalusian separatism , simply because it does not exist . separatism on the peninsula has nothing to do with language . it has everything to do with historic rights of old kingdoms . the comparison with belgium might not be such a good one . the northern part of belgium used to be dutch , this is the reason these people speak dutch . in the u . s . , there is no regional division of groups of native-speakers as there is in belgium ( and like there is in catalunya and euzkadi too ) . it is much more probable that separatism between dutch - speaking belgians and french - speaking belgians be encouraged , because it is easy to say : o . k . , since the flemish live in the north and the walloons in the south , why do n't we split up the country ( and if they would , what can i hold against it ? ) . in the u . s . , this is not a very likely situation since the spanish - speaking citizens live all over the country . there is also a big historical difference : a mexican family living in chicago will never be able to say " jee , we and all our neighbours and all the people in chicago , illinois , michigan , indiana , etc . , we used to belong to another country , a country where spanishwas the language . this soil where we were born and which we owe with thousands of " compatriots " used to belong to a spanish - speaking country . " and what if canada breaks up ? as long as they do it in peace . . . . . really , i think you use the wrong arguments here . i mean , do i use arguments like : look what china has done to tibet : by invading the country they have destroyed a very important cultural and religious heritage , the tibetans are forced to learn chinese , the tibetan culture will be lost soon . so please allow spanish in the u . s . ? no , i do n't use this argument either because you cannot compare a cat with a bird . > allowing ( for example ) native spanish speakers living in the > u . s . to avoid learning english as young as possible and as well as possible > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . etc . allowing millions and millions of people in a modern , industrialized country like the u . s . to avoid learning any other language but their own greatly surprises me . really , from a practical point of view , and trying to agree with jack aubert , i would like to conclude with this . yes , of course plural mono-linguism is a problem . but does it make sense to expect that the half of the population of a country that has worse access to good education is going to make the step of learning two languages well ? as has been investigated in minority regions in europe , it has been proved that people can only learn a language well when they know their own language well . this is the reason the frisian language got reintroduced in the schools in frisia again in the seventies . frisia is a region in the north of holland where people speak frisian and dutch . most schools in the cities have dutch as a main language and frisian as a second language but in the country-side , at least the first three years , mathematics and everything is being taught in frisian and dutch is a second language . there is no separatism in frisia . in fact , the frisians are among the dutch to speak dutch best since a lot of other dutch only speak their local dialect and are ununderstandable for someone who comes from another region . since ( children of ) spanish speakers in the u . s . cannot go to a spanish school to learn their mother tongue thoroughly , they will never be able to learn english really well . it seems more realistic to expect that the ones who already speak their mother-tongue well and who have , generally speaking , better access to better education would learn spanish . let them become bilingual ( and maybe monolingual spanish in the end ? ? ) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * jelly julia de jong * + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + atw , o . k . i . h . jatstraat 26 * + dept . of general linguistics + 9712 ek groningen * + university of groningen + the netherlands * + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | e - mail : julia @ let . rug . nl | | http : / / www . let . rug . nl / linguistics / jellydejong . html |
