English Should Be the Official Language of the United States

“The ultimate way to bring this nation to ruin, or preventing all possibility of it continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities. We have but one flag; we must also learn one language, and that language is English” (Theodore Roosevelt). In the United States alone, there are 325 languages spoken nationwide. English should be made the official language of the United States because it will knock down these language barriers and immigrants will be more likely to prosper in this nation, even though the costs may be quite high. Long before, our Founding Fathers did not find it necessary to create an official language. With almost everybody already speaking English, the topic didn’t prove to be controversial enough to debate. Many people feel that our nation’s unity is blocked by this language barrier. By destroying this barrier, people will communicate easier. Clear communication is the key to a smooth running society. When chaos strikes and nobody can understand what the other is saying, problems can escalate. Sadly, this statement is reflected in the countless medical mistakes caused by misunderstandings. Without the knowledge of the English language, it is much harder to flourish in the United States. According to a survey of 2,929 Hispanic adults conducted by Pew Hispanic Center/Kaiser Family Foundation, “Nearly 90 percent of Latinos believe that adult Latino immigrants need to learn English in order to succeed in the United States.” In 1999, an immigrant who spoke no English wasn’t even earing half the salary ($16,345) of an immigrant who spoke English very well ($40,741). Nevertheless, a large majority of Americans believe that it would be very difficult for an immigrant who spoke no English to find a good job in this country.
However many people are still in opposition. Many people feel that the cost of learning the language is too much, and in result, the reversing of assimilation. Learning a new