More English Extremists on the Loose!

Originally posted on May 28, 2006

I always find myself astonished when I see how some people react to a different language being spoken in their presence. Maybe it's because I grew up using both American Sign Language and English. Being bilingual can have its benefits. Though I don't see the importance of preserving a language and making a law out of it.

You see, we are a society and we are always changing through generations. Modern English barely resemble English from the sixteenth century. A good amount of the language today contains a lot of words that were just slang words. Today, they are now in the dictionary with definitions.

All of you people have a life; you shouldn't let it bother you. People should be free to choose their lifestyles without being punished for it. Not only that, it is also rude to overhear a private conversation even if it's in a different language. Everybody has feelings; we shouldn't be hurting each other just because of speaking different languages. If that were the case, then I wouldn't be here today.

I use American Sign Language on a daily basis. Never once in my life has one approached me and told me to speak English. I do consider myself lucky that I live in a country where both English and French are primary languages, not secondary to each other. I don't believe in language laws, I don't believe it will do any favours to the country except create more hostility toward diversity. It may take guts to tell somebody to speak English especially when they weren't talking to you to begin with; but it doesn't make it right. By doing that, you are going to provoke a lot of people and it serves no purpose. Mind your own business. People don't appreciate unsolicited advices. You may live in Canada or the United States of America, but it is not just for you. It’s for both you and the three hundred million people living in the United States of America. The same principle applies to the people living in Canada.

People should be free to live the way they want to. People shouldn't be reprimanded for being different from the others. If you approach a person who has a weak grip on the language of English, try to have a simple conversation or just leave without getting all worked up and punch the person in the face for just speaking a different language.

It will only create a bad image for America and Canada if they create a language law. It is pretty obvious that it has a lot to do with Anti-Immigrant propaganda and putting the fear in Americans we've been seeing lately. Yes, immigration is a problem, but it's your own fault. You allowed it to go on for decades without taking action.

The Minuteman Project, why weren't they here back in the 80s? They waited and waited. They waited till it's too late. The immigrants are already among the Americans, they are a part of America whether you like it or not. The population is ballooning up at a rapid rate and it's nearly impossible to put a stop to it. They eventually will be able to slow down the migrating rate, but there are still millions of illegal immigrants living in America.

Texas from what I know is already largely populated with Hispanics and so are some of the other southern states. That's why you see a lot of organizations focused on Hispanic events taking place in these states because it's to serve these people and remember their heritage just like the Southerners like to remember the Confederate heritage. You don’t have to read any articles in the Hispanic section of a newspaper, or participate in a Hispanic event. Yeah, the Confederate federation isn't American at all either; they were traitors going against the government in the first place. Now it's just a memory, but I don't see how you can take pride in the people that were traitors to the country. It just doesn’t make any sense. It’s just an opinion of mine. To think of it, a lot of Southerners complain about the Confederate flag being taken down from government buildings while they verbally attack the Mexicans for flying their Mexican flags outside their houses in such a vicious manner. Hypocrisy at its best. The Confederate flag is not a prideful part of American heritage; it’s still viewed as the flag of the enemies and traitors. I don’t believe that a flag of a different country or heritage has a place in a government building except for the official flag.

What I’m trying to say is to let it go. Both Canada and the U.S.A. are countries that heavily promote the importance of personal freedom. Try to give everybody their personal freedom without treating them like criminals. Remember the old saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. Only if we would stick to this, we wouldn’t have to deal with this sort of silliness over the languages we speak. It’s not a chaotic situation.

Just enjoy your life while it lasts. It’s not worth getting all worked over little pet peeves.