I have never understood the stubborn sentiment of some Americans that we are too good to learn any language beside English. Does it stem from pride ("Our language is better than yours,") or sloth ("We're too lazy to learn your language, so you better learn ours")?

For that matter, how exactly is it "our language" anyway? We speak English and yet we are not in England. If it was truly "our language" wouldn't it be called "American?" ...Well, I suppose our president has refered to it as such... If you really want to approach the issue from a linguistic perspective, the English language originated from German. So how is it "our language?" It seems like both Germany and England may have a stronger claim to "our language" than we do.

And here's a real can of worms: What alphabet do you suppose our alphabet (strangely called the Roman alphabet, not the American alphabet) originated from? Get ready for this... Arabic! Take a moment of digest that one. Our 26-letter written language actually evolved from the alphabet still in use today in all of those controversial Middle Eastern nations like Iraq, Iran, and Afganistan, to name a few. Of course, our alphabet, the Roman alphabet, is the same one used in much of South America, Central America, and Europe, all of which contribute heavily to U.S. immigration.

It seems that language is a fairly universal concept after all. Catholic Mass, for example, is spoken in hundreds of languages across the globe, but at one time was said in Latin everywhere. I would have to imagine that before that, in the church's earliest days, it was spoken in the ancient languages like Hebrew and Aramaic, as well.

I have always thought of bilingualism or multilingualism as a sign of intellect and education. Why then are some Americans so vehemently opposed to furthering their education? I myself have never became fluent in a second language. My education and career path took me in the direction of science, and I simply could not devote adequate time to learning a foreign language... And I'm not at all proud of that! If anything, I'm slightly embarassed that many people, American citizens and foreigners, can speak "my language" and I cannot speak "theirs."

Here is my case: If we live in America, and America is a combination of people from so many different cultures and languages around the world, why then is the white European culture (and language) the "right one?" I think that is only a fraction of the whole that is America. What about cultural contributions from African Americans? from South and Central Americans? from Native Americans (after all, they were here first)?

Why the proud refusal to accept any languages or cultures besides "ours?" Is it anything more than a stubborn clinging to ignorance? Perhaps the only thing more dangerous than ignorance is pride in ignorance.