The United States has NO national language!!

Question

On another discussion, my comment was refuted by someone. They are incorrect but my comments got lost in with other comments.

Many people think that the U.S. has a national language but we do NOT. There have been many attempts to pass a national language in Congress, but they have always failed. The current Congress is considering voting on this legislation as well. But I assure you that the person who said we DO have a national language is wrong.

Research the question if you are interested, and you will see that I am correct.

Answer 1

Yes, absolutely you are correct. Certainly, the majority language is English, but it is not the "official" language. It is also not a requirement for citizenship ( all the people born in Puerto Rico are citizans, whether they speak English or not).

The national language in practice is in fact English. The citizenship point lacks a bit of reason in regards to Puerto Rico, and are you implying that you don't need to know any English to get a US Visa? because I don't know - sinsonte, May 3, 2012

Puerto Ricans are US citizens by birth and don't have to speak English. - DJ_Huero, May 3, 2012

Answer 2

Jaja... I can see this truly bothers you so I will vouch this information is correct. The USA does not have a National Language and I'm a born and raised Texan. What you may be thinking of is English is the de facto national language. Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English. I will be closing this thread to prevent any unnecessary arguments.

Click Here To Learn What "De Facto" Means

The reason that this means so much to me is that I hate it when people says that Spanish speaking people in the U.S. should have to learn English. - kdrinning, May 3, 2012

Me too.. that's why i'm going to close this to not pour gas on the fire. ;-P - DJ_Huero, May 3, 2012

I agree, people should learn what "de facto" means, and understand that although it's doesn't mean LEGAL it does tell you that IN PRACTICE it is factual. Thanks. - sinsonte, May 3, 2012

Answer 3

English is our national language (de facto) which means by practice but not necessarily by law. English however IS the national language of the United States of America. I guess the premise of the "land of immigrants" has kept it from being "official", but the national language is English in the US.

I disagree. The PROMINENT language is English. But it is no way official or national. - kdrinning, May 3, 2012

Furthermore, with that said... your reasoning on Spanish being mandatory to learn or something lacks a bit of reason. You should be able to learn any language you want outside of the national language, which IS English. - sinsonte, May 3, 2012

De facto does not mean national by the way, Mosca you are wrong here. - DJ_Huero, May 3, 2012