U.S. English Announces First Member of the Month: Joyce B.

U.S. English Announces First Member of the Month: Joyce B.

U.S. English is pleased to announce its first Member of the Month. This new program was created so the 1.8 million members of U.S. English have the opportunity to share their personal stories—of why they support U.S. English and why they believe learning English is so important.

Our first Member of the Month for 2014 is Joyce B. from Farmington Hills, Michigan. Joyce has been a member of U.S. English since 2009. Here is her story, in her own words:

“It is not that I do not value other languages. I grew up in a home speaking Polish and English. I have formally taken classes in French and German and dabbled with Spanish. A common language, however, makes for a cohesive country.

Furthermore, if we have no official language, how are our historical documents written? Is it left up to who speaks what language in the area? Where I grew up, in Hamtramck, MI, that would have been Polish.

I saw what not speaking English can do, via my grandparents who never completely mastered English. They were basically kept in Polish speaking areas and unable to obtain certain employment because of their lack of English.

A united country is united by language. Take a look around the world: most countries have this requirement to protect their history, their unity, and their identity.”

Joyce brings up one of the key reasons Official English is so important. Without being able to speak the common language of the United States, English, foreign language speakers are often linguistically isolated. When the government declares English the official language, it adds an incentive for these non-English speakers to learn English—for their own benefit.

Joyce also correctly adds that most countries around the world have an official language. In fact, English is the official language of 51 nations… and the United States is not currently one of them. To read more about countries that have an official language policy, click here.

U.S. English would like to thank Joyce for sharing her story. If you would like to share your thoughts for supporting English as the official language of the United States, please email [email protected].

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