English Only Town: A Good Idea?
I was doing homework while listening to the news last week when something caught my attention. A New Jersey town is considering making the town an English only town (English would be town's official language). The question of YES or NO will be put to voters come election time in November. The mayor seems to be in full support of the idea saying it would "unify the town." If this is passed it would require all businesses to conduct all business in English unless otherwise required by State of Federal Law.
This could have several repercussions, but one concern is the definite economic trouble it could cause the city. If part of the population does not speak/read English, then they will either relocate, or at least take their business elsewhere. Either way, it could cause economic problems for the city. What do you think the best course of action is? Would you vote yes or no?
2 comments:
I can understand why they will have such an idea, but I really don't think it is a good idea. As we know, language as a tool in our daily lives is very important, especially in business which requires a instant reaction. If we speak only one language originally, there would be no trouble then. Unfortunately, the reality is just the opposite. If you force others to speak another language, it seems too extreme. I think the negative impacts outweigh the benefits. First, it will surely hurt the bussinesses that do not use English; second, the population that do not speak English may also feel uncomfortable and therefore move out of the city, which means a loss of purchasing power; also, it will hurt the diversity of the city. In a sentence, I don't agree with this idea.
It is my belief that to be a productive member of American society, a person needs to be able to speak, read, and write the English language, regardless of whether he or she is an immigrant or has lived in the United States since birth. Understanding laws, warnings, street signs, drug prescriptions, instructions when dialing 1-800 numbers, voting ballots, etc. is difficult if someone cannot understand the language that is used to convey all of this information to them.
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