English: The Pseudo Official Language of the U.S.

 “In Plain English” seemed to be a largely a pointless call for the adoption of English as the official language because English, at least in my everyday experiences, already is the official language.

Krauthammer seems to feel that declaring English as the official language of the U.S. can be a defensive mechanism of sorts against the large, “monoclonal linguistic culture” that has been arising due to Mexican American immigrants. He states that this monoclonal culture is “far from hypothetical,” but I strongly disagree; in recent times, it seems as if the U.S. is attempting to curb migration from Mexico and other countries that send poorer immigrants or refugees to the U.S. Even if immigration from Latin America continues to increase rapidly, these immigrants are often of poorer backgrounds and lack the social power to establish Spanish as a regional or national language. In fact, Latin Americans are probably more likely to attempt to learn English in the hopes of landing better career opportunities. Also, it is unlikely that Spanish ever becomes the common language in California, Texas, Florida, and other states because these states also receive high numbers of immigration from Asia and other countries.

I also wonder whether the establishment of English as an official language would undermine the foreign language education in American schools. At least at Troy High, there is only a two-year requirement of learning foreign languages. Could this requirement possibly disappear? Although learning languages such as Spanish and French do seem pointless in the grand scheme of things, as we are unlikely to use them in real life, I think these languages not only expose us to other cultures but also help us develop a deeper understanding of American culture as a whole.