OCTOBER 4, 2006

       Most countries have an official language.  In fact, 85 per cent do.  But you may be surprised to find out that the United States, the self-proclaimed “Leader of the Free World” does not recognize one or two languages as its native tongue.

       Currently in the U.S. there is a battle in some communities to make the country “English-only” and, in some case, it has pitted neighbour versus neighbour.

       The nation that is notorious for singling out people that are different is represented by some politicians who are leading the fight to have English as the only language that should be recognized by the federal government.  In fact, former president Theodore Roosevelt stated, "We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.”

       25 U.S. states already recognize English as the only official language.  That means government documents and services for those individual states only need to be provided in English.  When it comes to the federal government the rule doesn’t apply.

       The argument is that immigrants entering the United States have too easy a time fitting in as they are likely to find a person who speaks the same language and can help them get by, eliminating the need to learn English, the most commonly used language in the world.  Because of this, many fear the country will be taken over and English will be fazed out all together.

       Unless immigrants begin to outnumber the people born on U.S. soil, it’s unlikely that English will become a thing of the past.

       However, in dealing with Americans on a daily basis I have come to some conclusions about “American English”.  On numerous occasions I have been laughed at when I say the word “been”.  I’ve been asked to repeat myself several times and then I get made fun of.  The first time this happened I was confused and asked what was so funny.  The response: “It’s pronounced ‘bin’.”  I’d never before been challenged and told to pronounce a word incorrectly.

       So if Americans are worried that the language they cherish -- but don’t mind brutalizing in pronunciation – is going to be long gone, perhaps they should do a better job of speaking and teaching it to people and there wouldn’t be cause for panic.

       It’s all about being tolerant and wanting to put forth an effort to educate people and as a television talk show host said following a lengthy discussion on the issue: “Only in America.”