Should english be the official language of the United States
The greatest wealth of a people is its language. ... Although it is taken for granted that a nation should have an official language, the United States of America have not. However, since the majority of its population speaks English, the latter is considered the country’s tongue. Therefore, some people consider that English should be the official language of the United States. Yet, there are major reasons that demonstrate that it should not be this way. Why should English prevail over other languages used in the United States? What about the American language? The historical background of the United States shows that neither English nor French was the first languages spoken on American soil. “The first European language heard by the native population in this continent was Spanish” (Piatt 5). Different European nations has settled the United States. ... As a consequence, English became the most spoken language, and even later “the Founding Fathers never really discussed this issue because over 90 percent of the voting population was a British ancestry” (US English). Therefore, without being officially recognized, English became the language of this country. ... Thomas Jefferson himself “encouraged not only the maintenance of other languages, but also the learning of foreign languages by English speakers” (Piatt 9).