"Do You Speak English?"

Approximately a decade ago, when my sister took a middle school trip to France, she found herself in an awkward position; in the middle of an exchange between herself and the cashier of a small Paris cafe, she suddenly forgot how to say a certain phrase. Upon observing her difficulty, her server, who could not have been more than 20 years old, immediately switched from French to fluent English.

Especially in Europe, keeping in mind that none of its countries are located even remotely close to America, English has become the language that overcomes the language barrier. In Ukraine, for example, my cousin began to learn English in elementary school. Should she ever wish to visit Italy or Greece, she will have a way to communicate with most people without being forced to purchase a book of translations in order to stumble through simple phrases (though there is no harm in doing so). Of course, this ability can probably be attributed to the fact that Europe has a vast tourism industry and its visitors are predominantly American, but nonetheless, English unites many people abroad.

So why shouldn't it be the same in America, which is chock-full of immigrants who also find it best to be bilingual? If English has already traveled around the world, isn't it just better to learn it and open up to the possibility of communication with people from all sorts of different backgrounds and cultures, while maintaining a special connection with one's own origin?  After all, as Krauthammer says, "The immigrant has the right to speak whatever he wants. But he must understand that when he comes to the U.S., swears allegiance and accepts its bounty, he undertakes to join its civic culture. In English." English is practically the official language of the world; there is no reason for America to hesitate in calling it the official language of its people, for whom it has done so much.