English please

Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.  - Theodore Roosevelt


In high school, I went to France for a month with our French Club.  I had taken 2 years of French before going so thought I knew enough of the language to get by.  The group took a trip down to the beach and a few of us decided to go shopping.  Nothing can go wrong with a cluster of 17-year-old girls shopping in France, right??  We ended up getting lost in this little town and couldn't find our way back to the train station.  We kept asking random people "Ou est le train?" (Where is the train) and were answered with blank stares.  Finally, a nice gentleman who spoke English took pity on us and walked us to the train station where we watched it leave without us.  Not all Frenchmen are rude. :)


We did not have any expectation that all the French citizens would be able to speak English.  We made an attempt to learn the native language before going to France.  It was their country, not ours.  There was not an English-only TV station that we could watch.  You either listened and tried to figure out what was going on or you didn't.  Why should they change their language just because it would have made it easier on us?  If I had decided to stay in France, I would have had to learn the language to be able to function as a productive member of society.


Why, then, is this country different?  Why are there television channels that are only broadcast in one language?  If a store owner posts a sign saying "Speak English only," that person is considered as being discriminatory.  Of course, in order to be able to read the sign and be offended in the first place, one would have to know enough English to read it.  If you can read the sign that says "English only," you should be able to order a hamburger, even if you only point to the picture.


This post may make some people mad and that's okay.  You don't have to agree with everything I say - that's one of the great things about this country.  However, in order for this to make you angry, you would need to be reading it in English, which was the original point.  If someone chooses to live here, learn my language - don't make me learn yours.