March 10th, 2002, 02:56 PM
Hi all, I found an old discussion about the purpose of an official national language in the USA. Since nobody has replied to it in a while, I thought I'd re-start the debate.
This is a complex issue and it's impossible to please everyone. It's an issue influenced by identity, tradition, the economy, and politics. The logical purpose for having an official language in any country is unity; so that everyone can qualify for the same kinds of jobs, attend the same schools, and so that everyone can understand legal documents and receive the same public services.
Trying to be multicultural and maintain 2 or more official languages creates as many problems as maintaining only 1 official language.
I'm an American citizen living permanently in Finland, which has 2 official languages (Finnish and Swedish). I once taught children's English language total-immersion clubs at a stuffy, old-fashioned, pretentious Swedish-speaking grade school in Helsinki. I was working for a private company which sends teachers to conduct the clubs at various schools, so I was an employee of the company, not of any particular school. The company director insisted that we teachers speak nothing but English during the club sessions. Well, at that Swedish-speaking school, many of the children rebelled and refused to communicate with me in English. In desperation, I started speaking some Finnish one day in an effort to win their respect, because I do not speak any Swedish. To my relief, most of the dissident ones started behaving better and I thought the problem was solved. Well, the principal's daughter was in the club, and she revealed to her parents that "the teacher often speaks Finnish during the lessons". Not long afterwards I got a call from the company director telling me that the principal would not tolerate the use of Finnish by English club teachers, and basically that if I continued to do so, they'd replace me.
I have also heard numerous stories of discrimination and abuse endured by Finnish-speakers living in Sweden, and by Swedish-speakers living in Finland. One case involved Swedish-speakers trying to drown a Finnish-speaking classmate at a grade school in Sweden. There are countless jokes about how one group is fundamentally superior to the other, etc etc.
I could go on and on but I think you get the point. This kind of thing happens all over Europe. So where on earth do people get the impression that Americans are the only ethnocentric population? Do non-Americans simply ignore the clashing attitudes at home?
This is a complex issue and it's impossible to please everyone. It's an issue influenced by identity, tradition, the economy, and politics. The logical purpose for having an official language in any country is unity; so that everyone can qualify for the same kinds of jobs, attend the same schools, and so that everyone can understand legal documents and receive the same public services.
Trying to be multicultural and maintain 2 or more official languages creates as many problems as maintaining only 1 official language.
I'm an American citizen living permanently in Finland, which has 2 official languages (Finnish and Swedish). I once taught children's English language total-immersion clubs at a stuffy, old-fashioned, pretentious Swedish-speaking grade school in Helsinki. I was working for a private company which sends teachers to conduct the clubs at various schools, so I was an employee of the company, not of any particular school. The company director insisted that we teachers speak nothing but English during the club sessions. Well, at that Swedish-speaking school, many of the children rebelled and refused to communicate with me in English. In desperation, I started speaking some Finnish one day in an effort to win their respect, because I do not speak any Swedish. To my relief, most of the dissident ones started behaving better and I thought the problem was solved. Well, the principal's daughter was in the club, and she revealed to her parents that "the teacher often speaks Finnish during the lessons". Not long afterwards I got a call from the company director telling me that the principal would not tolerate the use of Finnish by English club teachers, and basically that if I continued to do so, they'd replace me.
I have also heard numerous stories of discrimination and abuse endured by Finnish-speakers living in Sweden, and by Swedish-speakers living in Finland. One case involved Swedish-speakers trying to drown a Finnish-speaking classmate at a grade school in Sweden. There are countless jokes about how one group is fundamentally superior to the other, etc etc.
I could go on and on but I think you get the point. This kind of thing happens all over Europe. So where on earth do people get the impression that Americans are the only ethnocentric population? Do non-Americans simply ignore the clashing attitudes at home?