Dear Consultant,
It was wholly a pleasure to receive your reaction to a recent column of mine
critical of the English Only types. The column's thesis: Societies that
proclaim their mother tongue THE ONE AND ONLY OFFICIAL LANGUAGE are playing
a futile and silly game, and in the end may only crimp the style of the
language they're supposedly protecting.
I am glad to repeat your e-mailed rebuttal in full:
"Been to South Florida recently, Paul? I was living in Miami in 1970 when
the hordes of Cubans didn't speak English. Not too long ago I was in Miami
consulting on a court case. Those Cubans (now) spoke perfect English and
they were prosperous and productive. If they were still only Spanish
speakers, they would be confined to enclaves."
Good point. And the most impressive thing about it is that "those Cubans"
and their children and grandchildren -- who by now doubtless have become
those Americans -- had acquired English without the government's ever having
made it the one, nationally certified Official Language. (Drumroll in
background.)
It's as if those folks had figured out -- entirely on their own -- what
social mobility required of them. Just like every other immigrant
generation. As in many another field, the free market has certain advantages
when it comes to language, too.
Government compulsion, particularly in any matter as intimate as the
language we speak, and think in, can prove counterproductive.
Whenever I hear people speak fluently in French, or Russian, or Arabic, I am
consumed by envy, and even flirt with the idea of trying to learn it. My
reaction would surely be different if some official government language czar
were to order me to speak another language. ("You vill learn German!")
I can feel my spine stiffening at the very thought. Maybe it's an American's
instinctive reaction to being ordered about. I suspect it's also a human
reaction.
Sir, you must come visit Northwest Arkansas in 20, 30 years, Lord willing,
and have a nice conversation -- in perfect English, or at least fluent
Arkinsaw -- with the children and grandchildren of today's hard-working,
Spanish-speaking chicken-pluckers and siding-installers. They're a big
factor in the economic boom in those parts.
Who knows, you might even be here on business -- to consult with one of
their now grown kids, who by then will have become one of the country's
leading experts in aerodynamics or international law or some other
challenging field. Hey, it's America!
I really should sign this letter:
Son of Immigrant Cobbler
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Dear Linguist,
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