Then there is the issue of those of us who only speak english at yet find ourselves not communicating well at all with other english speakers. There's the functional aspect of language you are addressing here and then the relational aspect of using it that seems to be something we ought to care about just as much as the mechanics.
As someone born here who didn’t learn English until age four with the help of Sesame Street, I believe cultural cohesion is important and necessary. However, let’s not mistake what this executive order is truly about. It’s not a unifying measure—it’s designed to create hardships for the very people we should have empathy for. This sets a precedent for making multilingual notices illegal, which would affect many essential services, most importantly voting ballots.
Learning another language is difficult, and as many Americans demonstrate, so is mastering the only one they know. A better approach would have been developing a plan to teach English to those here legally through voucher systems to prevent fraud, or as a prerequisite for naturalization. With AI’s prevalence, the cost would be minimal if we genuinely wanted to eliminate language barriers without creating new ones.
I appreciate the sentiment and tone of your article, but you discount the turmoil this creates for people who—whether they know English well or not—may communicate in a different language. Picture some “American” approaching them and demanding they speak English because “this is America.” This was already happening before the executive order; now these individuals will be doubly emboldened to act this way.
Thank you for reading and for the thoughtful comment, Frank. This is definitely something we need to approach with maximum empathy, and I agree that eliminating language barriers is an important thing.
And believe me, I find it very ugly, an American being bothered by someone speaking another language. Or not being patient with someone who is struggling with their English. Only people who are abysmally ignorant of how hard it is to learn another language do things like that.
That said, I understand their frustration if they have serious communication issues with someone who hardly speaks any English, especially given some of the illegal immigration madness that has occurred over the years.
However, as I should have noted, I support keeping multilingual notices, voting ballots, and essential services in Spanish, as I should have mentioned.
And regarding the executive order, I interpreted it as largely symbolic, but the more I look into it, it appears it may set that dangerous precedent you mentioned in some places.
The crux of the matter I’m getting at is that it is in all non native speakers in America’s best self interest to learn English as well as they can, and I hope we don’t disincentivize that in anyway. I hope we make it clear how worth it it is for them and everyone.
Frank, you have clearly mastered not only english, but effective communication as well. Your point seem very sound and I look forward to Jeff's reply as I find him to be an exceptional communicator as well.
Then there is the issue of those of us who only speak english at yet find ourselves not communicating well at all with other english speakers. There's the functional aspect of language you are addressing here and then the relational aspect of using it that seems to be something we ought to care about just as much as the mechanics.
Absolutely, that’s a good point Rick.
As someone born here who didn’t learn English until age four with the help of Sesame Street, I believe cultural cohesion is important and necessary. However, let’s not mistake what this executive order is truly about. It’s not a unifying measure—it’s designed to create hardships for the very people we should have empathy for. This sets a precedent for making multilingual notices illegal, which would affect many essential services, most importantly voting ballots.
Learning another language is difficult, and as many Americans demonstrate, so is mastering the only one they know. A better approach would have been developing a plan to teach English to those here legally through voucher systems to prevent fraud, or as a prerequisite for naturalization. With AI’s prevalence, the cost would be minimal if we genuinely wanted to eliminate language barriers without creating new ones.
I appreciate the sentiment and tone of your article, but you discount the turmoil this creates for people who—whether they know English well or not—may communicate in a different language. Picture some “American” approaching them and demanding they speak English because “this is America.” This was already happening before the executive order; now these individuals will be doubly emboldened to act this way.
Thank you for reading and for the thoughtful comment, Frank. This is definitely something we need to approach with maximum empathy, and I agree that eliminating language barriers is an important thing.
And believe me, I find it very ugly, an American being bothered by someone speaking another language. Or not being patient with someone who is struggling with their English. Only people who are abysmally ignorant of how hard it is to learn another language do things like that.
That said, I understand their frustration if they have serious communication issues with someone who hardly speaks any English, especially given some of the illegal immigration madness that has occurred over the years.
However, as I should have noted, I support keeping multilingual notices, voting ballots, and essential services in Spanish, as I should have mentioned.
And regarding the executive order, I interpreted it as largely symbolic, but the more I look into it, it appears it may set that dangerous precedent you mentioned in some places.
The crux of the matter I’m getting at is that it is in all non native speakers in America’s best self interest to learn English as well as they can, and I hope we don’t disincentivize that in anyway. I hope we make it clear how worth it it is for them and everyone.
Frank, you have clearly mastered not only english, but effective communication as well. Your point seem very sound and I look forward to Jeff's reply as I find him to be an exceptional communicator as well.
Right! And right back at you, the storyteller himself.