What language do you speak?

I've been thinking for a while now about blogging on the topic of people in America not speaking English, and when I saw the two passages below that were in today's Rants and Raves section, I figured it was time to stop putting it off.

"I'D LIKE TO SAY it would be nice if our country was bilingual. Children in kindergarten are used to singing French and Spanish, and it's just lots of fun. So people shouldn't get upset if we speak or read another language. It's kind of fun."

"YET ANOTHER RANT about having to put up with any language other than English. Is America truly becoming xenophobic in the extreme? Has no one remembered our American society is a melting pot of all ethnicities and cultures, not to mention languages? If one should want to get away from the "Spanish" influence in our stores, then I would suggest take a trip to (the) far reaches of the Yukon territories or the outback of Australia. Of course, you may have to learn the basics of Inuit or the aboriginal languages to survive."

Did you know...?

That 91% of foreign-born Latino immigrants agree that learning English is essential to succeed in the U.S., according to a 2002 Kaiser Family Foundation poll?
A 2002 Carnegie/Public Agenda poll found that by more than a 2-1 margin immigrants themselves say the U.S. should expect new immigrants to learn English and that 73% of immigrants believe schools should teach English as quickly as possible?
That 63% said that they believe that all teaching should be done in English, while only 32% supported allowing some teaching in their native languages?

The burning question to me is if immigrants believe this, why isn't it happening?

I'm certainly not against LEGAL immigration. My own great-grandparents came from Ireland in the late 1800's. And let's face it, the overwhelming majority of today's Americans have ancestors that came from somewhere else. But, if you have immigrated to America and cannot speak intelligible English, then learn to do so, okay?

I don't mean that one should learn the bare minimum so that I can be asked if I want my fingernails oval or square when they're being filed or if I want a beef or cheese enchilada. I mean that one should learn enough so that they can go to get a driver's license without the exam having to be in a different language (Alabama currently offers driver's license exams in 13 different langauges) or so that a child's teacher can have a conference with the parents. Wouldn't you think that'd make your life easier if you could actually understand what people were saying to you? If I went to live in Germany, for instance, it'd be in my best interest to learn to speak German, wouldn't it? If I moved to Russia, or China, I'd need to learn a new alphabet and a new language. And don't tell me it can't be done, because I know it can. My oldest brother, Roy, speaks English and Spanish. My younger brother, Robert, speaks English and Russian and my sister in law, Guli, speaks four (Count 'em now: Uzbek, Russian, Turkish, and English) different languages! And bless her heart, she even says 'y'all' when she speaks English, which isn't her first language. Now, granted, I can barely speak English (although I'm well versed in Southern), but you don't see me immigrating to some other country and needing an interpreter, now do you?

So anyway, I was thinking about having t-shirts printed up that have the word 'casa' written in big, bold letters. Underneath it, in smaller letters, it will say 'I'm learning your language, so shouldn't you learn mine?' Anyone want to place an order?

(If you don't know what 'casa' means, expand your horizons and look it up. Here's a hint - it's Spanish.)