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Are We in America?

Our forefathers fought against oppression and taxation without representation and won our independence. Their victory gave birth to a new nation which they named the United States of America. Since then, people from other countries came here for a better place to live, mostly in search for something forbidden or not available in their home countries. Simply put, other than our Native Americans, every one of us is either an immigrant or a descendant of one. We spoke other languages. It is an undeniable fact that we, the people of the United States of America, used to speak every known language in the world.

Incredibly however, according to the 2000 U.S. Bureau of Census, the common language that emerged is what 82.11% of all Americans speak today. That language is not English, Spanish or Chinese. It is truly and distinctly different and at the same time easily recognizable. It is American.

Though it bears some resemblance to the English spoken in Great Britain, we only have to speak for a minute or less to any group of Englishmen for them to know that we are Americans. When we visit Australia, it would not take long for them to be calling us "Yanks". The language Americans speak is uniquely different from the "English" spoken in other parts of the world. In fact, no matter where we go, we are known and referred to as Americans - - not "those people who speak a different kind of English", not the "people from the United States", or any other kind of people. We are Americans - - - and proud of it.

Even the English, spoken by our neighbors to the north, with whom we share the longest border, is different from ours and so are the English spoken in Scotland, Singapore or Hong Kong. The fact is, no matter where we happen to be, after only a brief conversation, people would ask, "You're an American, aren't you?" Personally, I have never heard anyone referring to what speak as "American English" or "US English" or anything else. What we speak in America is none other than American. Therefore let us be proud of it and stop tiptoeing around the issue and officially recognize and declare American as our official language. Would it not be truly un-American to refer to our language as some kind of English?

If these are still not good enough reasons, ask yourself, "What language do they speak in Egypt, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, Italy, Russia, China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan and a lot of other countries? Don't they speak Egyptian in Egypt, Portuguese in Portugal,

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