John Wayne would not approve of having to press the numeral “1” on telephones and other machines in order to communicate in English, or so humorous signs posted in various places would have us believe. He would consider speaking and being spoken to in English his right. It would be his right, he would assumedly explain, because it is the language of this country and anyone entering it should be required to speak English. That seems to be a logical argument. But if it is the language of this country, why do we call it “English”? Why not “American”? I’m sure the people of Britain, hearing how Americans have changed, mispronounce and mangle proper English, would be in favor of a new classification for it. Perhaps our version of English could be termed a sub-language, but I am sure there would be many objections to that terminology. Then again, it could not reasonably be called “American” for another reason. The people of other countries in the Americas speak other languages—Spanish, Portuguese and French, for instance. If those languages are spoken here, could they not also be considered “American”? No. That’s simply too confusing. We can’t be expected to worry about what languages are spoken in other countries. There has to be one language for our country, accepted by all. There is no other way. Critics of “dial 1 for English” have a good point in saying that if they were going to stay in a foreign country they would learn the language of that country. That seems to be a good plan. Perhaps we can begin that movement by requiring that those we send as representatives to foreign countries as ambassadors and embassy staff speak the language of the country to which they are sent. That might save us a lot of trouble in the world. But, on the other hand, it is not easy to learn a foreign language, especially to learn it well. Sometimes, that is due to certain things that a person may lack—ability, opportunity, finances, time, etc. It may be due to an unwillingness, conscious or unconscious, to learn the language of the new country. My mother told me stories of her grandmother, an immigrant from Germany, refusing to learn English. My mother, as a child, would announce a call to dinner in German. If she did not, her grandmother would not answer, preferring to starve rather than acknowledge the same information delivered in English. I always thought that story was rather charming. In light of today’s events, it seems less so. Then, too, there is a problem with assuming that people should learn and speak the language of the country to which they have emigrated. If that were the case, why are we not all speaking Algonquin or another Native American language? One may argue that there was no unified native language on the continent when the white men arrived, but that simply begs the question. The fact is that the white men simply gained supremacy over the native peoples. They then dictated which language, or languages as was first the case, were spoken. That is the way of it and what will eventually happen in the present-day case. Might makes right, militarily, economically or otherwise. We could attempt some compromise to select the language that is used. One difficulty would be the number, more than one first supposes, of candidate languages. Every group would want a chance to place a language in contention and there are many groups. So many that if a very vital issue came to popular attention, it would be difficult to tell which group constitutes the majority. There is a bumper sticker making the rounds that asks, “How does it feel to be a minority?” Those in the minority are practically everybody. However, if it did come to a vote, and we could not be a bilingual country, as many countries are, I would probably vote for Spanish. It is an easy language to learn, is logical, poetic, and sounds nice (at least to my ear). There would also be an historical basis for that. Spanish was probably the first widely disseminated language on the American continent. But all this is, basically, irrelevant. Language in the long run will still be chosen by people through mutual consent based on that which they find most convenient in order to live their daily lives. So cheer up. Someday there may be no problem. We may all be speaking Chinese. ---written by Joe F. Stierheim |
