No Hable Espanol | Teen Ink

No Hable Espanol

September 22, 2010
By 1ClassicLady1 SILVER, Mona, Utah
1ClassicLady1 SILVER, Mona, Utah
6 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Success is not final and failure is not fatal. The courage to continue is all that matters in the end.
~Winston Churchill


Living in Utah, as I do, I'm surrounded by the issue of illegal immigration, and the headache the complaints give me. Even though it might seem so in the following article, i am not racist. I love the Melting Pot of the World idea for the United States.
But when my world has to be half Spanish, even though my ancestry is Norwegian, and I'm constantly having to hear about the "Mexicans taking all the jobs", that's when i have something to say.

I propose the following plan:

It should be required that all persons living legally in the United States should speak English.

Three reasons why this plan would be beneficial, and why it makes sense:

1. Requiring English as a second language would cause all illegal immigrants to be fairly obvious, and so would make catching them fairly easy. Also, it would discourage any crossing of the Mexican border into Texas or California or New Mexico.

2. English, they say, is one of the hardest languages to speak. Where most people can learn Spanish in the four years of high school, it takes public schools at least a decade to properly teach English to children. This plan would slow the immigration rates as the foreigners learn English.

3. The chances of getting into a good college are very slim if you do not know Spanish. If English is the required language, jobs would not require a second language unless it is basically the definition of the job. Therefore, getting into a good college would not be dependant on my learning Spanish.

Please, let me hear your thoughts on this. And let me tell you again, I am not being intentionally racist.


The author's comments:
This is something just off the top of my brain that would help the United States if it were passed... although, it might anger a country or two.

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This article has 11 comments.


on Oct. 11 2010 at 10:44 pm
1ClassicLady1 SILVER, Mona, Utah
6 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Success is not final and failure is not fatal. The courage to continue is all that matters in the end.
~Winston Churchill

I have been very subjective toward Spanish, but only because it is the second most prominent language in the U.S. My plan was for any immigrants to learn English; not just Spanish speaking peoples.

Sorry to sound so heartless, but i think it would keep things simpler while still allowing room for differences.


princess6 GOLD said...
on Oct. 8 2010 at 11:48 am
princess6 GOLD, Berwyn, Illinois
10 articles 0 photos 42 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You choose your own destiny" :)

sorry I meant **spanish

princess6 GOLD said...
on Oct. 8 2010 at 11:46 am
princess6 GOLD, Berwyn, Illinois
10 articles 0 photos 42 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You choose your own destiny" :)

I know your not trying to be racist but the fact is many people would take it personally. My dad came to the United states illegally about 18 years ago, and even though he is now an American citizen he still has trouble speaking english. I also think you are only adressing the Hispanic culture when you are talking about soanish, how about all the other people that speak a differennt langurage..like norwegians.

on Oct. 3 2010 at 10:03 pm
1ClassicLady1 SILVER, Mona, Utah
6 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Success is not final and failure is not fatal. The courage to continue is all that matters in the end.
~Winston Churchill

I wasn't meaning to outlaw any other language. Just to keep things basic, having English as a universal language as well as allowing them their own language... you know? It wouldn't be illegal or them to know spanish if they knew english as well.

on Oct. 3 2010 at 2:39 am
writer-in-pearls GOLD, San Diego, California
10 articles 0 photos 42 comments
While I believe that you don't mean to be racist, you logic is flawed. Illegal immigrants could learn English just as easily as legal immigrants. Also, would speaking Spanish become illegal? What about speaking italian, french, arabic, portuguese etc? 

Lilliterra said...
on Sep. 27 2010 at 7:02 pm

I'm not on a debate team right now, but maybe I should join one. :) 

Would you mind reading my article, titled, "What Darwin Didn't Know"?


on Sep. 26 2010 at 11:06 pm
1ClassicLady1 SILVER, Mona, Utah
6 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Success is not final and failure is not fatal. The courage to continue is all that matters in the end.
~Winston Churchill

You've got a really good way of bringing up arguments. Are you on a debate team or something? Thanks so much for going full out on commenting! It's fun!!!

on Sep. 26 2010 at 11:05 pm
1ClassicLady1 SILVER, Mona, Utah
6 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Success is not final and failure is not fatal. The courage to continue is all that matters in the end.
~Winston Churchill

Yes, i know i'm heartless :) it was one of those days, you know? I have some very racist cousins :)

on Sep. 26 2010 at 11:03 pm
1ClassicLady1 SILVER, Mona, Utah
6 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
Success is not final and failure is not fatal. The courage to continue is all that matters in the end.
~Winston Churchill

Wow, i wish i had thought of some of those things earlier. you bring up some good points. Thanks so much for commenting!!!!

on Sep. 25 2010 at 7:40 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

I know you're not being racist, my friend. Logically, you are reasonable and sensible. You bring up many good points. Emotionally, you are lacking in sympathy and somewhat biased. One out of two is not all that bad. Good article.

Lilliterra said...
on Sep. 25 2010 at 6:44 pm

While I agree with your premise, I disagree on a few things: One: While English is certainly one of the hardest languages to learn, most  children can speak it as well after grade three as most High School students can speak spanish after all four years of studying it. Our study of Eglish in school is much more in-depth than our study of Spanish.

Two: The second language we learn to get into college does not have to be Spanish. It is simply the second most common language in the United States, and therefore most useful to us.

Three: Learning a second language is very useful to one's understanding of how language in general, even English, is put together. I can see why this would be required for College even if it has no bearing at all on your job.

And I disagree with the idea that High School is nothing more than "College preperation," which is only "job preperation," and a job is about nothing more than money. I'm not saying that you said that, but I hear people talk that way all the time.