"Official Hola Day" is officially a bad idea, says U.S. English Chairman

Washington, D.C. -- U.S. English, Inc. Chairman Mauro E. Mujica today criticized plans for "Official Hola Day," an event which encourages U.S. city officials to speak Spanish and issue proclamations in support of Spanish speaking individuals. Official Hola Day is scheduled for October 1.

"While we should always encourage individuals to learn and practice their foreign language skills, government officials should not be involved in promoting one foreign language over another. English has long been the unifying factor in our nation of 322 spoken languages, and the government’s past emphasis on English language learning has made us a vibrant melting pot. Breaking away from this tradition has been a hindrance to English learning, and a continued deviation toward multilingual government will have dire long-term consequences for this and future generations of immigrants.

"Diversions such as "Official Hola Day" obscure the truth – that millions of Hispanic immigrants must rely on Spanish messages because our government has shied away from promoting English language acquisition. In reality, a significant portion of Americans must rely on phrases such as "hola," "necesito ayuda" and "no hablo ingles" 365 days a year. Instead of recognizing a day of increased Spanish use, government officials need to focus on long-term English language learning efforts.

"Today, as in every day, individuals should say 'hola' to our Spanish friends, 'bonjour' to our French friends and 'guten tag' to our German friends. Then we should continue the rest of the conversation in English, recognizing that this is the language that unites us all as Americans."