Valley Perspective : SECOND OPINIONS : Populace Fluent in English Basic to Economic Survival : The percentage of people in the U.S. who speak the native language is declining. How will they fare in a world embracing English as the common tongue of communication?

Several score and a few decades ago our forefathers had a major problem: how to communicate with other ships at sea, and how to do business with other nationalities? World travel had been going on for years, and they found with the hundreds of countries and hundreds of languages there had to be some type of common ground so they might communicate with each other. After the usual committees and conferences, they decided upon English as the international language of commerce. When the airplane came into being, the same decision was made: English was the language of the air. In all instances, a common language was required to trade, to communicate during disasters and to understand each other.

In recent years, countries around the world have had the same problem: communication with other peoples. International travel and business have exploded since World War II. Countries had to do something in order to communicate. To solve this problem, the 15 countries of the European Union have selected English as their common language. In the past few years, some six countries have selected English to be their second language, the most recent being the Czech Republic.

All have stated that the reason they made this change was due to commerce. In other words, if they did not speak English, they could not trade or grow in the new international business community. Many other countries are considering similar changes to the English language. Further, computers are changing the world. Although there are some complaints, English is the Internet and business language for users of computers.

As for statistics, we all know that there are more native Chinese-, Hindi- and Spanish-speaking people. English-speaking natives are fourth on the list. But, there are 50% more English-speaking people in the world than Hindi and Spanish speakers. Chinese may be spoken by over 100% more people than English, but it is also the most difficult language to learn and write.

With the world changing to English, what is happening in the United States? We are going backward! In 1980, 11% of the U.S. population spoke a language other than English. In 1990, it was more than 14%, or a 27% increase in 10 years. Why? For more than 200 years, we have been an English-speaking nation. Is the change due to the lower level of education of people entering this country? Is it people who do not want to join our larger American community? Is it the social engineers who are forcing bilingual education on us?

If these people cannot communicate with the rest of the country, what will happen to them? They cannot use a computer to communicate. They cannot advance in the business world without good communication skills. They cannot travel extensively, either in the United States or other countries. What happens when the policeman yells, “Stop or I’ll shoot!”

B. Franklin, T. Jefferson, T. Roosevelt and others have all stated very strongly: the main item that holds our nation together is a common language, English. Without this ability to communicate, our nation will not continue to grow and prosper. If you are an American and if you believe in our country, contact your representative and senator, and have them vote yes on HR1005, the English-only resolution.

This is not an immigration problem; this is a survival problem for the future of America.