One of the aspects of the current debate over what to do about illegal immigration involves language - specifically, whether America needs to go out of its way to accommodate people who speak only Spanish, or whether immigrants (legal or no) should be required to learn English when they come here. This is an interesting debate which has caused me to shake the dust off my degree in Linguistics (Penn State University, 1973) so that I can pontificate with a little bit of authority.

I've always been fascinated with languages, and still enjoy studying them and using them whenever possible. Today I speak reasonably good German (it used to be much, much better, but I've grown lazy because Agnes's English is so good), and I can still understand some elementary Russian. I've spent about ten years living and traveling in Germany, and took pride in being able to communicate with the Germans in their own language. I was especially pleased to note that Germans would recognize from my accent that I wasn't German...but they often thought I was Dutch, rather than American!

Language is important, socially and politically. If you go to a foreign country, especially if your intent is to live and work there, you have a responsibility to adapt yourself to the customs and language of that country. In the current debate, that means immigrants from Latin America should learn and use English, rather than demanding that services (to which illegal immigrants are not entitled, anyhow) be provided in their language. One of the standard complaints about Americans abroad is that "they always expect everyone to speak English." That's true, and that's why I always made an effort to learn at least a little of the language of any country to which I traveled. But it looks as if we are now replacing the linguistic Ugly American abroad with the linguistic Ugly Hispanic at home.

As an example of how important an issue this is, consider that even a consummate political animal like our President finally grew enough of a spine to publicly state that immigrants should learn English! Will wonders never cease?

Regardless of what we as a nation finally decide to do about illegal immigration (and we need to do something soon), we need to address the issue of what it means to be an American. If you come to America looking for a better life, but all you want to do is recreate the culture you left to come here, then why not stay at home and try to fix the problems there? If you want to come to America, then you should embrace the language and culture of America. If you really want to be a Mexican or a Salvadoran or a Colombian or whatever, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, and other countries will be happy to have you. Maybe. Ask yourself why you left in the first place, and what you hope to find here.

But, of course, no one who needs to take this advice to heart will ever do it, because I'm so dreadfully "anti-immigrant" that I didn't post it in Spanish so they could understand.

Learn and use a foreign language. If you're coming to America, learn English. You may decide you like it, and it will make our nation a stronger, better place.

Have a good day. More thoughts later.

Bilbo