Why I Don't Support Bilingualism

[Angry Citizen]

America is at a crossroads. Hispanic immigrants form a growing minority in southern states. These immigrants often do not speak English, or if they do, they speak it poorly. The solution, says the government? Bilingualism. Everything in English and Spanish. "Tolerance" for other cultures. But this is a trap. The lofty ideal of bilingualism is unsustainable and divisive. I will point to two examples as evidence.

The first: Canada. Anyone who is even vaguely aware of Canadian politics is cognizant of the once-strong nationalist movement within Quebec, culminating in referendums which came very close to separating Quebec from Canada. Today, Quebec is a devolved region with autonomy granted to it in many areas: even immigration and employment policy. Anglophone Canadians often have enmity for Francophone Canadians, and vice-versa. While the nationalist movement is falling away with the recent death of the Bloc Quebecois, there still exists a strong desire to maintain a sense of Quebec sovereignty. This is inefficient, confusing, and promotes divisiveness.

The second: Belgium. Again, those who read about Belgian society know that Belgium is a country divided into two regions. One speaks Dutch; the other French. The political struggle between northern Flanders and southern Wallonia reached its greatest level recently when the two opposing regional factions failed to construct a government for a staggering 541 days. Cultural superiority reigns on both sides; many times one will hear hate-speech against the opposing culture.

Both of these are products of attempts to integrate a culture that speaks another language by allowing the retention of that language. By refusing to force the other culture to speak the dominant language, the other culture becomes insulated - an "outsider" to the greater society. When Louisiana was bought by the United States, no attempts were made to introduce bilingualism to accommodate a French population. They spoke English, or they were ostracized. It is unsurprising that many chose to speak English.

A similar choice exists for America today. Do we allow the reign of bilingualism to continue, eventually forcing many southern states into conditions seen in Canada and Belgium where a minority will speak a language that the wider society does not understand? What are the implications if we say "yes"? Will southern states become like Quebec, insulated territories whose inhabitants identify regionally rather than nationally? What can we do if we say "no"? Should we implement no-cost language-learning centers to integrate these people into the US as they should be? Should we allow documents and official government messages to be sent only in English?

[Yarn]

The only time Spanish should be used to teach in our public classrooms should be when the subject is Spanish or ESL. Second generation immigrants should be as fluent in English as native speakers.

However, when it comes to things relevant to health and safety, I think bilingual communication is a must.

A lot of the problem, as I understand it, is that those whose native tongue is Spanish are poor and therefore poorly educated whereas those who speak English are more academically prolific and proficient and can therefore more readily learn a second langauge.

[ChimneySweep]

Angry Citizen:These immigrants often do not speak English, or if they do, they speak it poorly. The solution, says the government? Bilingualism.

I do not think any government, American or otherwise, sees bilingualism as a solution to immigrants speaking poor English. The solution is English classes and interaction with English speakers. Bilingualism more satisfies the needs of the next generation: likely to be conversant in English but still in need of the cultural roots, of which language is a vital part.

The lofty ideal of bilingualism is unsustainable and divisive

Rubbish. But it takes a community to WANT bilingualism for it to work effectively, and to want it the community has to understand why it's necessary and what the benefits are. A hostile/patronising environment will discourage its use both by the state and individuals.

In New Zealand Maori and English are both official languages. Maori of course were not immigrants after the English, but essentially the situation is the same. The revitalisation of Maori language in a bilingual environment has brought huge improvements. It means that Māori language can be spoken in Court and other official places like Parliament, we have a Maori television channel, education available in immersion Maori to tertiary level, traditional Maori medicine subsidised by government funding etc. It means Maori language has been an automatic part of every day culture, not a "outsider group."

Parts of New Zealand English are rooted in Māori lexicon and it is not uncommon to hear the Māori language used or referenced in speech. (For example caucasian New Zealanders usually refer to themselves as Pakeha.) This development is reflected in the recently published Oxford Māori Words in New Zealand English.

Street signs, public buildings, and news articles commonly use Maori words intermingled with English and most New Zealanders know and use at least some Maori words without the need for translation. One of the signs of this acceptance is when huge mulitnational companies such as Microsoft begin to produce Māori versions of common software.

This was not always the case.

By the 1980s, fewer than 20% of Māori spoke the language well enough to be classed as native speakers and it was then that Maori leaders initiated recovery programmes like immersion language schools to reverse the trend.

The benefits are much wider than language - renewed cultural pride (nation-wide incidentally), the implementation of crime-fighting initiatives and social welfare programmes, including health which target the almost universally poor statistics otherwise. Research also shows bilingualism results in wider academic success for its speakers.

What we have to recognise in a global world is that there is that we are increasingly racially mixed. Communication, understanding and acceptance without subjugation are the only option.

[Apeman81]

Melting pot!

Jump on in and stay as long as you like. Adapt, Adopt, Succeed.

[Senor Hoint]

Bilingualism, as you call it, is nothing more than a courtesy extended to those who cannot speak English. Maybe you wish there weren't people in the U.S. who can't speak English, but there are, and giving those people the option to use Spanish for certain things (as Yarn said, things related to health and safety) isn't a bad thing at all.

[yahweh]

you know whats sad about this. This is where races divide , whites said "fuck off" to the indians , and now they want conformity , and peace , and agreeableness with Hispanics who are over running "their country". This is like two teens playing a game; one teen is whooping ass , im talking about anal probing the other guy. Then the other teen starts winning , and the previously merciless teen starts crying foul , he wants the other teen to play "fairly" , and to stop winning lopsided victories. The teen that was once a winner , is basically saying to the current winner ;" stop winning and let me beat you". Well if i was hispanic , and i heard whites talking about Hispanics needing to conform i would tell them to fuck off , and to get a head start by learning spanish now.

nature is merciless , and so too is humanity.
as whites are being eclipsed , they grasp for the light , a good man would help him up , although whites bought much pain. But i am no good man , i am put a pheasant , and i revel in my primal ignorance. What u see today is the white man groping for help , only a race traitor would help him. Why help your former oppressor stand shoulder to shoulder with you , in your glory days , when you can push him from the light and take the spotlight for yourself as he had done for almost a millennium.

the ghandi in me says ; share the light , but ohh , the demons within me >:(

[ruksak]

One serious concern I have not seen mentioned here yet; How Bilingualism translates to military application? To what affect would our military be burdened and disabled if our soldiers were speaking any number of languages? From what I understand, it is against regulation to speak any foreign language while wearing a military uniform.

[Trojan_Ripper]

nature is merciless , and so too is humanity.
as whites are being eclipsed , they grasp for the light , a good man would help him up , although whites bought much pain. But i am no good man , i am put a pheasant , and i revel in my primal ignorance. What u see today is the white man groping for help , only a race traitor would help him. Why help your former oppressor stand shoulder to shoulder with you , in your glory days , when you can push him from the light and take the spotlight for yourself as he had done for almost a millennium.

the ghandi in me says ; share the light , but ohh , the demons within me >:(

Thus the reason that they should learn the language of the nation they are living in, while at the same time being able to converse in it when dealing with the “oppressor” as you state; lest you be looked at as a fool with useless expression and communication. Spoken, written, or, otherwise.

From what I understand, it is against regulation to speak any foreign language while wearing a military uniform.

Where did you hear that Ruk?

[Angry Citizen]

I do not think any government, American or otherwise, sees bilingualism as a solution to immigrants speaking poor English. The solution is English classes and interaction with English speakers. Bilingualism more satisfies the needs of the next generation: likely to be conversant in English but still in need of the cultural roots, of which language is a vital part.

I'm aware of the ideal. My point was that, in practice, it becomes a crutch on which speakers of foreign languages rely. There becomes little incentive to speak English if one lives in insular communities and in jobs that allow their workers to speak a foreign language. In Texas, for instance, construction workers converse universally in Spanish. The Spanish-speakers live in predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. Some parts of Texas are nearly entirely Hispanic. How will these people integrate if there exists little to no societal pressure to change?

In New Zealand Maori and English are both official languages.

Are Maori discriminated against in any fashion, whether culturally or politically? Will they be in fifty years once bilingualism has run its course and the 'real' Maori start to identify themselves as Maori rather than New Zealanders? This social engineering experiment has lasted thirty years, and cannot be compared to "natural" settings like Quebec and Belgium. Again, history doesn't lie. Even if Maori are integrated now (which I have no clue one way or the other), it is because they were forcefully integrated through language immersion rather than language accommodation.

Communication, understanding and acceptance without subjugation are the only option.

This is an argument for unilingualism, not bilingualism. As Europe becomes standardized to an English-speaking community (at least insofar as a working second language), a greater European identity will emerge. China's xenophobia will plummet as its citizenry adopts English as well. Personally, I wish we could standardize to something like Latin, but English is going to be the most dominant language in decades to come. Mark my words.

[yahweh]

Thus the reason that they should learn the language of the nation they are living in, while at the same time being able to converse in it when dealing with the “oppressor” as you state; lest you be looked at as a fool with useless expression and communication. Spoken, written, or, otherwise.

don't feed into me , even i know my words are illogical on the highest level , and right on the primal. The hardest thing to do , is to be the man that does the right thing , because you will always get the least return.

[Trojan_Ripper]

don't feed into me , even i know my words are illogical on the highest level , and right on the primal. The hardest thing to do , is to be the man that does the right thing , because you will always get the least return.

see....that's what I meant.....

[Yarn]

So AngryCitizen says we shouldn't be bilingual because it would ruin societal cohesion and then cites a couple of examples (Canada and Belgium), Chimineysweep says the opposite and cites one example (New Zealand), I agree with AC except perhaps as pertains to health and safety, Apeman applauds the US's reputation as being a "melting pot", and yahweh goes on a racist rant about how we all need to fight eachother as though being enlightened was a repulsive prospect-which in turn seems to reinforce AC's point about how divisive this sort of thing can be.

Apeman is right. We should be a melting pot. White culture should become blacker, black culture should become whiter. North American culture should become more hispanic, etc etc. However, at the end of the day we should still be one people. In the process of assimilation, new people ought to add their distinctiveness to the whole and everyone should draw closer.

This is what differentiates the examples of Canada and Belgium from New Zealand. It shouldn't be a matter of distinct identities so much as a more diverse and enrichened collective identity.

However, when it comes to langauge it seems either we all learn multiple langauges or else we all have to speak one. Otherwise this becomes divisive.