American Arrogance (Ignorance)

Yeah, sometimes I get the two mixed up with one another. There seems to be a thin line at times between the two, arrogant and ignorant. In fact, some who are arrogant are ignorant.

I bring this up due to a discussion I overheard last night at a friend's house. I decided to stay out of the conversation, because I really didn't feel like getting into any debate. But, the more I thought about what they said, the more I have to shake my head and roll my eyes.

The discussion dealt with immigrants and speaking fluent English. I did open my mouth and pointed out, "You know, we don't even really speak English here. Our English is somewhat different than that which is spoken in England, as well as Australia." They agreed. But, that was the last time I opened my mouth about the subject.

One complaint was that at places such as Wal-Mart, at the quick chin-in service, there are two language options from which to choose: "English" and Spanish. Both parties complained about this and whined that our national language is in fact English, so all should learn the language.

"English" is learned all over the world. English is taught to kids in most European countries. English seems to be the dominant language, where the majority know how to speak it, at the very least, in a broken sense. Many do, in fact, speak it fluently. While I agree that United States citizens should either already have a firm grasp of the language or be required to learn it, that's not the reason why my friends' comments annoyed me. It seems that many people in this country (that I've spoken to, anyway) have this "It's our way or the highway" mentality. It's the Christian way or it's eternal damnation to hell! It's English or go back home! It's capitalism or go somewhere else! You're either with us or against us! I cannot stand this ignorant arrogance or does arrogant ignorance sound better? However one wants to word it, it aggravates me enormously.

So, if these friends of mine or others who think like them travel to a foreign country, should they have a firm grasp of that country's native tongue before visiting? Should that country be considerate at all and give the option of hearing something at their version of Wal-Mart in their language or in others, so that foreign visitors can understand what they're doing? Would that be wrong on their part? Should they just tell everyone who speaks only English to keep out until they learn French, Italian, Spanish, or whatever language they speak? Some countries don't even have a true dominant language. Should they make it so there is only one dominant language and people at "Wal-Mart" aren't annoyed by another language option?

I know some people and have heard of others who speak up to 12 different languages. I think that's amazing. Personally, I'd love to learn that many. It won't happen, at least not in this lifetime, but it'd be incredible to speak to people all over the world in their own language. Just because our national language here is "English" does not mean there aren't exchange students coming here from overseas or people visiting from a foreign country who may not have a firm grasp on the English language. Why penalize these people for wanting to learn in or travel to our country when we wouldn't want the same to happen to us if we were to travel to another country? That makes no sense to me. They can complain all they want to, but I guarantee they would also be complaining if they traveled to Russia and the only language spoken or written anywhere was Russian.