Twenty years as a resident and still can't speak English? It sounds like very little effort was being made.

don't shoot the messenger.

My point is that to become a citizen, you have to be able to read, write, and speak English. English may not be the "official" language, but it is the one most speak and it is next to impossible to have all of the documents translated into every language (and to be fair to all, they would need to be translated into all) or to have a translator for every language available.

English is the dominate language in this country, although some "native" speakers tend to fracture it a bit.

If you plan to live in any country and want to make any kind of headway in it, learn the dominate language. It makes life so much easier.

Why can't we just have English designated at the Official language? We had it designated as the official world wide language for air traffic control.

i must say.....YES PLEASE speak englishh...if i was moving to mexico,france, anywhere other than america...i would take time to learn the language......

why are you asking me??? I don't make the laws....yet

OMG! Are you saying you don't have an OPINION?

Wrong???? It needs to be passed as a LAW!

I work as a Recruiter for a worldwide known company and I will not hire anyone that does not understand and that does not speak clear English....The workers need to be able to communicate with other co-workers in English anf if you can't do this no job for you

Are you asking me why I think it's not an "official" language, Joe?

I think it's unofficially the "official" language but maybe they don't want to label it as the official language because America is made up of many nationalities. Kind of strange when to be a citizen you have to know English.

*Wipes Sweat Off Forehead*

Good thing I'm Bi-lingual

Actually I speak 3 Languages

Spanish

English

And Bull$hit (just to deal with the everyday people)

English has been the unofficial Official language of the US forever. Not having it as an official language is causing illegals to develop subcultures breaking down the cohesive nature of our society. If at some time in the future large numbers of US citizens cannot even speak the same language ... well it wouldn't be an improvement.

India has many subcultures and many languages. One of the benefits of the formal English rule is the legacy of a common language where all Indians can communicate. The reverse is happening in the US.

Bush was working that way and if we ain't careful, Hussein will make sure we are forced to learn Spanish.

In 2008, Hussein addressed the issue of official languages by endorsing one: Spanish. Instead of worrying about immigrants learning English, he told an audience, America should be teaching its children Spanish.

To say that is discriminatory. It discriminates against the other 300+ languages spoken here.

Perhaps we should be forced to learn and be fluent in all of them.

I wonder what Forrest Gump would think about all this?

English is the most spoken language in the world.People should learn english for the benefit of knowing a language that is understood by nearly country in the world.Spanish would be second.You speak English and Spanish you could probably go anywhere in the world and be ok.

I also remember a debate a while back involving prune faced Pelosi.Her dumb butt was trying to figure out what the official language of this country should be.I don't remember if it was voted on or not(I believe it was)and the official language of the United states is English.

Some states have voted it as the primary language. And would you believe California was one of them?

and thats a great thing,, languages IN ADDITION to english make you more marketable in the US,, but try finding a decent job without at least knowing english,,,

I found the following on a Constitutional Website.

Begin Quote:

Many people are surprised to learn that the United States has no official language. As one of the major centers of commerce and trade, and a major English-speaking country, many assume that English is the country's official language. But despite efforts over the years, the United States has no official language.

Almost every session of Congress, an amendment to the Constitution is proposed in Congress to adopt English as the official language of the United States. Other efforts have attempted to take the easier route of changing the U.S. Code to make English the official language. As of this writing, the efforts have not been successful.

Here is the text of a proposed amendment. This particular bill was introduced in the House of Representatives as H.J. Res. 16 (107th Congress):

The English language shall be the official language of the United States. As the official language, the English language shall be used for all public acts including every order, resolution, vote, or election, and for all records and judicial proceedings of the Government of the United States and the governments of the several States.

Also introduced in the 107th Congress was this text from H.R. 3333:

The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the United States of America. Unless specifically stated in applicable law, no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the Government of the United States or any of its officials or representatives act, communicate, perform or provide services, or provide materials in any language other than English. If exceptions are made, that does not create a legal entitlement to additional services in that language or any language other than English.

Often these bills are in response to legislation recognizing non-English languages in public discourse of some kind. H.R. 3333, for example, also explicitly repealed the Bilingual Education Act which authorized funds to educate American students if their native tongue as well as to provide specialized training in the learning of English.

The most recent efforts to promote English as the official language has come as more and more immigration from Spanish-speaking and Eastern nations (such as China and Vietnam) has brought an influx of non-English speakers to the United States. According to the 1990 Census, 13.8 percent of U.S. residents speak some non-English language at home. 2.9 percent, or 6.7 million people, did not speak English at all, or could not speak it well.

English is not the most spoken language in the world.
I believe Chinese is with Spanish a close second.