English--the Foundation of America
In Dennis Baron’s essay, Don’t Make English Official-Ban it Instead, he discuss how people misuse the English language, meaning not speaking it correctly or implementing their own meanings and “slang” uses of words. He sarcastically suggests that English be banned and a replacement is put into effect for its void. He goes on to explain how it would eliminate the problem of having to choose whether to use the English of England or America, of Chicago or New York.
I agree with Baron that English is misused in today’s societies and societies before today’s time. I have been in the presence of people who try and use English words with absolutely no idea of its meaning. English is however, of vital importance, to America. It is our way of communication as well as a part of our culture. Just as Baron says in his essay, when he is discussing the supporters of the decision to make English the official language, “it is the glue that keeps America together.” Without English as our official language we as a people would not effectively be able to communicate with one another, especially after speaking English for so long. Trying to convert to another language would have a lot of people, possibly even families, “out of reach“ in terms of communicating with each other.
Just as English is improperly used and not deemed as something valuable, so are other languages. Spanish is used by some Americans as an attempt to show you can speak another language. A downfall of that is, some Americans do not speak it fluently or correct for that matter. Some people just do not view any language, not just English, as something that is not important. Without English and the many books that we have filled with wonderful words of the English language, children would have no imagination and America would not have any drama or adventurous novels to read.
So, contrary to what Baron said about banning English, even though it was in a cynical matter, English should not be banned and a replacement found. It is the essence of America.
22 comments:
I agree that english should not be banned. Although people that try to learn english refer to it as the hardest language to learn and to speak. It is also a universal language that has been rooted in the history of the United States of America.
If I didn’t know better I would think that Baron was a horrible writer and has no idea about how to get a point across. I don’t like how he tries to use sarcasm to speak to the reader. He tries to format his essay like that of “A Modest Proposal” but fails greatly to do so. He is very out of order and even contradicts himself in his own essay. Whether he meant to do this or not is unknown but in my opinion it’s absurd. I agree with Aunnika, I believe that changing our official language is crazy. We may use it in many different ways but that is part of what makes it American. America stands for freedom so if we cannot speak the way we choose then what is freedom anyway.
Stephen, i disagree with you about Baron's writing technique. I do think his intentions for his format was to be like "A Modest Proposal," but on the other hand, I think the scarcasm helps to prove his point that it's ridicilous to even have the thought to change English from the national language.
English shouldn't be banned because, if English was banned then the young people would not be able to comunicate with their elders. It would also be to hard for the older people to learn a new language.
I agree with you Aunnika, english is apart of our culture and if we do as Baron says and ban the english language then it will be like banning our culture.
I undestand what Aunikka and Baron try to say. First Baron says that English should be banned because it is misused. I also understand what Aunnika is saying that English is a part of our culture. I think that both points are true. English is beginning to be misused and there are alot of slang words out there but that doesnt mean it should be banned because it is part of Americans culture. Like Baron said English is made up of many languages put together and i think that with more reason it shouldnt be banned.
I agree with Stephen. I too disagree with his sarcasm regarding english being the official language. To my reasoning, his sarcasm was taken seriously by many including myself. Even if he is being sarcastic, it still is absurd to change our language.
I think I read Baron's essay a little differently, I thought that Baron was talking about banning english in a sarcastic tone. I do not think he literaaly meant that we shouldn't use english anymore. He means that english is abused and taken advantage of. We get lazy when using the english language. Take Aim Instant messanger for example. When we speak to each other on that we use abbreviations such has lol, (laugh out loud) etc.
I agree with Joseph. The old people are not really capable of learning a new language. It's a saying that goes, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks".
I agree with you Aunikka H. When you say the English language should not be banned. Not only is English the language that all Americans speak. It would also not be fair to ban a language that a whole country speaks because a few people misuse it.
I agree with you Aunnika. Baron made the proposal to ban English, but i completely disagree with him. Banning English will have more people in distress because we have been talking in English for so long (for some people incorrectly), and learning another language will be more stressful. I believe its easier to correct the incorrect English than to learn a whole other language and say it correctly.
I agree and disagree with you Aunikka, sure the English language is misused, but the slang that the younger population use is their own special way of communicating. Our parents had their own slang, and their parents had it too. To me the english language is still evolving and the next generation is just adding a new chapter to the language.
I agree with Caylenne, we have gotten lazy with our language as well especially with writing e-mails. My high school english teacher used to always tell my class that the windows spell checker is whats keeping our generation from learning how to write and speak english correctly, and I agree with her. We need to take more pride in our language and take the time to learn it.
I agree with my fellow classmate that banning english would not make any of the matter's better.I agree with brandon because many people from different parts of the world speak english with a different tone or dilec. I speak english but the I talk is different from others.
I believe that with this article Baron set out to make people realize the importance of language. Although he may have used improper language or logical fallacies, he got the readers to think about the english language. He used these tactics most probably knowing that it would draw in the readers attention. I believe that Baron accomplished his goal.
I believe that we are missing an important point, and that is that Baron is being sarcastic and a little unclear with his points for a reason. He chooses such strategies to make fun of those who are making such a big deal about making it official. I do not believe he truly wishes to ban the english language.
I disagree with the idea that english is misused. The english language varies. Look at the English language in England compared to the English language in the US. Look at the way the Northerners speak compared to Southerners. Sure, there is a difference in the way English is spoken, but English isn't misused.
I Agree that English should not be banned. Why would you try and fix something that doesn't have any problems. From what ive seen and heard, there has never been any devastating consequences of a person that cannot speak english as good as others. Also, think about the amound of difficulty it would be to learn a language that is completely new to some people.
I Agree that English should not be banned. Why would you try and fix something that doesn't have any problems. From what ive seen and heard, there has never been any devastating consequences of a person that cannot speak english as good as others. Also, think about the amound of difficulty it would be to learn a language that is completely new to some people
I agree that the English language is misused in today’s society. Many don’t even take the time to speak correctly and more often than not use word replacement and use words out of context when they are speaking. The people in today’s society have become lazy and it seems as if we don’t care anymore. At least there are those like Baron who bring it to our attention.
I agree and disagree with you on some things such as people learing language to show that the can speak another language, somewhat is true and then you have that false side. See my mother for instance is trying to learn Spanish to help her better in her job. Being bilingual is just another talent but also a very helpful educated language. Learning any language is going to be hard because it's not your language, the born right, but you do have those who have mastered it and speak it fluently. Yes families might get out of wack because they may not understand you but you do have that root of language "slang" or plain english that makes you all understand one another. I do agree that English shouldn't be banned. It has been a language that changes with time.
How can you possibly change our language? It just doesn't make any sense. It would take a century and a whole lot of money to get to the point to where everyone speaks a different language. Everyone who is alive today would have to die out before we could actually say that we have a new launguage.
Post a Comment