Official Languages. I expect progressive digression...

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Halcyon+On+On
Liebchen

Registered: Sep 2004
Location: midcoast

Official Languages. I expect progressive digression...

So I read this article:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/g...or-2007488.html

and it got me to thinking what the benefits and repercussions might be for instituting a National Language. This isn't intended to be a Political (read: US partisanship) thread, more just discussing the cultural impact of officiating a country's language. Lira, you're not allowed to comment for the first 4 hours.

Spanish is clearly going to be the target here. And I totally get that some might view these sorts of proposals as cultural assassination, among numerous other immigration policies forwarded in recent years. And I totally get the perception of Americans as lazy fucks who go off on political tirades the moment the Drive-thru worker bungles their order because of a perceived ethnic/language barrier (I have witnessed this many times, it's disgusting).

But just the same, English is the most pervasive second language in the world. It's oft considered to be the language of politics and the elite for this very reason - Is it the beginning of a world language at some point? The benefits of us all speaking the same language are obvious, but how would inevitable regional dialects once more dash the plans to build the Tower, so to speak? And in the case of a national white-washing of communication in the US, how might the ingratiated yet bilingual citizens transform the national language into something unrecognizable by today's conservatives? It seems to me that English would stand to change quite a bit when forced to be used the country-over, or even the world-over as an official language, and as we know, change is precisely what conservative mindsets are most afraid of.

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Dec-02-2011 21:24

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Lira
Ancient BassAddict

Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Brasilia, Brazil

Re: Official Languages. I expect progressive digression...

quote:
Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
Lira, you're not allowed to comment for the first 4 hours.

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Dec-02-2011 21:39 Brazil

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Halcyon+On+On
Liebchen

Registered: Sep 2004
Location: midcoast

I'm just kidding. Please say whatever you like.

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Dec-02-2011 21:41

jonSun
Supreme tranceaddict

Registered: Dec 2003
Location: Chicago CTA #77

Since Italian and Portuguese are the sexiest languages we should make those official. They are also close enough as well.

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Dec-02-2011 21:47 United States

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itsamemario
Divine Angel

Registered: Jun 2001
Location: Mushroom Kingdom

I have already started learning Mandarin.

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quote:

ALFI - BOHICA - DJ MIX (Stream+Dropbox)

Dec-02-2011 21:51 Norway

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bananas
baby i got your money

Registered: Oct 2004
Location: Mordor

I have already started eating mandarins

Dec-03-2011 00:58

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itsamemario
Divine Angel

Registered: Jun 2001
Location: Mushroom Kingdom

I eating already mandarin started have.

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quote:

ALFI - BOHICA - DJ MIX (Stream+Dropbox)

Dec-03-2011 00:59 Norway

Spam
OMG Hai2U!

Registered: Dec 2004
Location: Mississauga, Ontario

Mandarin, have I already started eating?

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Dec-03-2011 01:33 Canada

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Lira
Ancient BassAddict

Registered: Nov 2001
Location: Brasilia, Brazil

quote:
Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
I'm just kidding. Please say whatever you like.

Well, I'm going to share my thoughts before I go to bed then

I think Bachmann should go on and see what happens when you make a language official in a multicultural country: namely, nothing. What does she mean by "official language" anyway? Is there any American state that does its business in any other language? English is the official language of Florida already, in case she doesn't know, and approximately 1 out of 5 Floridians still speak Spanish. This is not going to drive anyone out of the country.

Also, how much does she want to limit the use of other languages? In which circumstances will Spanish, for example, be forbidden in Florida? I'd love to know how far she's willing to go because even the name of the state is in Spanish - does she really think Americans will feel more American if they live in "Flowery", "Mountain", "Reddish" and "Snowed"? "Los Angeles, California" could well be the name of a place south of Rio Grande (oh, about that, should we call it "Grand River" or "Big River"?).

If this ever happens (which is quite unlikely), I just hope no one comes up with the second most stupid possible idea and created a regulating body to declare what is(n't) "correct" English. It's funny how people would rather be told they can't speak their own language when the problem is that the "rulers" tend to cling to outdated versions of the languages they're supposed to protect.