Information from the National Conference of State Legislatures indicates that the states’ approaches to linguistic diversity often straightjacket the subject into immigration. However, linguistic diversity enriches and enables individuals and society in many more positive ways than many of these legislative efforts would have us believe.
In my state, Ohio, the House passed HB 477 earlier this year in an effort to make English the state’s official language, but it appears to be at a standstill in the Senate just before the summer recess. There is widespread opposition to the bill and today, the effort, Blogging in Tongues came into existence to demonstrate and explain the many reasons why HB 477 should be opposed. Ohio blogs that are participating in this effort reach more than 10,000 readers.
If you would like to read about why HB 477 is bad law, please visit these posts:
- American Pink Collar (French)
- Bad American (Polish)
- bitter-girl :: musings (German)
- Blogesque (Korean)
- Blue Bexley (Dutch)
- Blue Ohioan (Korean)
- Bring Ohio Home (Czech)
- Bring Ohio Home (German)
- Buckeye State Blog (Italian)
- Glass City Jungle (Hungarian)
- Gloria Ferris (Spanish)
- Ohio Daily Blog (Croatian)
- Pho’s Akron Pages (Vietnamese)
- Plunderbund (Redneck)
- Rowsey Blog (Spanish)
- The Chief Source (Spanish) at The Point
- The Daily Bellwether (French)
- Tim Ferris (French)
- Writes Like She Talks (Portuguese)
And this blog, with all the English translations.