English As The Official Language example essay topic

The Need for an Official Language Language is the most important media in human communication. It makes it much easier to exchange ideas. Imagine if everyone in this society spoke his own language. What would our society looks like?

Probably not as prosperous as what we are now because business is very difficult to do due to the fact that all documents have to be printed in different languages. Our whole society would be split up because there is no communication between each other. The fact that California has immigrants from different countries, makes different languages to be used in our society. This causes us lots of trouble. Printing the materials in two or three different languages costs our government lots of money, in addition, it makes the operation of the government inefficient. Everyone have to suffer from it because all this money come from the tax.

Using different languages also breaks the unity of our society. People are separated by what kind of language they speak; for example, people who speak only Chinese will live in China Town. Those people also tend to hang around with the same kind of people, those who speak Chinese. There is no them and the outside. Later on, different kinds of small groups will be formed.

Different grumps will have conflict since they don't share the same culture, habit and language. The harmony of the whole society is going to break. Development and growth of our society will slow down, and everyone have to suffer from it. To avoid this, communication is needed to eliminate the conflict and misunderstanding. This means we need to have a proper language that everyone can learn and use. English is the best choice since most people know it.

So its necessary to make English as the official language. If English were the official language, all kinds of documents and publications in business and government would be printed in English; in addition, all kinds of public services such as the 911 Emergency service would be conducted in English. For people who speak English fluently, there is no big difference for them. However, those who don't know English, immigrants from other countries, will find their lives even harder than before. To get a job will be difficult for them. Their inability to read the publications from the government will cause them a lack of many kinds of benefits, rights and services.

For example almost impossible for them to get help from 911 Emergency service if they don't knowhow to speak English. They cannot get their driver license because of they don't know how to answer the questions in English. Moreover, they will not be able to vote because they don't know how to fill out the ballot which is in English. However, according to the Constitution, everyone in the country should have equal rights. So, should we ignore the spirit of the Constitution?

For the good of the whole society, we definitely need to have an official language. However, we cannot ignore the rights of those who don't speak English. They are also part of our society. This brings the solution that we have to make some exceptional cases for this bill; for example, the 911 Emergency Service, the driving test and the ballot must be excluded from it.

They should also be available in another language. Besides this, government should allocate more resources in ESL education; makes it more accessible to those who want to learn English. No matter what the government do, those who don't know English still have the responsibility to learn English. Not only to make their lives better but also for the benefit of the society.