Interview an immigrant about a language bill being passed in the U.S

Hyun Seok, Lee

Language B

September 23,2012

Word Count: 398

Interview an Immigrant about a language bill being passed in the U.S

 

Hyun Seok:  Hello, I am a high school student of MEF.  I am going to ask you a few questions about the language bill being passed in the U.S. Before I start my question, can you introduce yourself?

Mr. B: Yeah sure, I immigrate in summer time in July 24th 1986, because at that time I can move from Poland as a teacher, just for vacation.

Hyun Seok: Do you still teach students in states?

Mr.B: yes, and that is because I  thought teaching students was the only suitable job for me.

Hyun Seok: Thank you for introducing yourself. First of all, did you know that the congress just passed the bill that making English as an official language?

Mr.B: Yes, it is pretty shocking news. When I first came to United States, I had to pass immigration test which evaluates the level of new immigrants’ english abilities. After that exam, no one actually foced me to learn English. However, I had to learn English to get a better place to work.

Hyun Seok: Do you support the bill or not?

Mr.B: My answer for that question is No. I am against the bill. Language is not just a tool that uses to communicate with others. It is a accumulation of culture and represents the indentity of individuals. In other words, compelling immigrants to learn English is taking away their freedom and infringing the rights to choose their own identity.

Hyun Seok:  United States is the unique country that nearly 40 percent of population came from aborad which means they are not white americans, and some of them such as Hispanic still do not know how to speak English. In this case, the government thought they need something to gather amercians into one group. Do you think a languge can unite people?

Mr.B: Since a language is a powerful weapon to unite people, many countires have used for a long time. However, as I mentioned above, peculiarity of Untied States is the imoportant part that we have to think about. I think France is suitable example for this question. France does not have an official language even if their nation is consist of a number of immigrants. Instead of making official language, the used other methods such as arts to combine people.  These are my reasons why I can not support the bill.

Hyun Seok: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today.

H.W 15/09/2012 English

A common language is the most powerful unifying force known throughtout history

Language has played a significant role in Humans history. Sometimes even  countries utilize the potent weapon ‘language’ to dominated their new colonies.

As I mentioned above, language’s function is more than just one way of communicating each other. For instance, these days a number of people use English, and in some countries people who know how to speak English earns more money than others who are not able to speak English.

Also, language was the best tools to gather people despite of their nationalities and cultures. Old chinese kingdoms and United states might be the best example for my idea. The priority work when old chinese kingdoms conquered other country was instilling their language into their knew colonies. After finishing this work, everything goes smoothly such as people becoming completely new citizen even if the dominated country had maintained their culture for a long time.  Another good example is the Untied States. Vientnam did not use English as their first lanuage before the WW2. However, after the World War Second they changed their systems in education and politics.  In my opinion, different conutires has their own best way of systems because surroundings and many other factors are diffrent with other countries. But, since their language changes, they become another citizen unofficially.

Few days before in my English class we had a class about the offical language of U.S government. Since the U.S is the country that mingled with various people, language comes to them as a big concern. However, the thing that I want to say is that if the U.S government want to keep their power and global rank over the world, they should maintain their lanugage English as much as possible, because the country like the USA’s root came from the lanuage ‘English’.