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Argument Against Bilingualism In America

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The world is very large. With over 7 billion people on this earth, you can imagine that there would be a plethora of different languages. Over 6,500 different languages are spoken throughout the world and all of them are unique. In the United States, English has been the main language and any other language spoken in the US is frowned upon. With many different cultures in the US, bilingualism has become a big thing with many people speaking English and their native language as well. In the small biography about Martin Espada, he talks about him battling bilingualism and trying to integrate the spanish language into American society. Espada believes that being bilingual gives people of sense of power, a little advantage over people who only …show more content…
Espada believes that destroying the language changes not only their native tongue but also their identity and culture. The spanish language is getting corrupted in and “fades in the face of the cultural warfare which characterizes the United States today”(18). The spanish language is getting pushed out because the English language is the most popular language and is being imposed on everyone in the United States. It’s getting increasingly more difficult for native spanish speakers to stay true to their roots in the US today. Espada says, “U.S English devotes its energies to opposing bilingual education, ballots, government services, street signs and 911 operators, as well as foreign-language broadcasting, the yellow pages in spanish and even a spanish-language menu at McDonalds”(29). It’s not fair for people to shy away from their native language in order to fit in and succeed in American society. They would lose their native culture and their unique identity in doing so.Espada has been trying to advocate for the spanish language to be normal in American Culture and has worked with META which helps out with spanish discrimination. Espada believes being bilingual gives people a sense of power that not everyone has. Bilingualism should be something to be proud of and should be used. With our culture today, most people are shying away from bilingualism and are being forced to speak the dominant

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