English, once accepted as an international language, is no more secure than French has proved to be as the one and only accepted language of diplomacy or as Latin has proved to be as the international language of science.
So what's really behind the 'English Only' Movement? Fear. Fear of being taken over and one day they will have to learn something different. Heaven forbid they would have to learn something new.
The issue of American world cultural dominance is moot. All the international debates on the issue seem to be held in English.
If the French were really intelligent, they'd speak English.
I hate all that nonsense about not touching the colonialists' language. All that about it being corrupting and belonging to the master and making you Caliban. That thinking just denies you an outlet. You deny everything that is great from a language, whether it is Conrad or Shakespeare.
Requiring this kneeling down of all languages before French is sheer linguistic imperialism.
National languages are all huge systems of vested interests which sullenly resist critical inquiry.
It is a general truth that students of language in every era try to colonize some or all of the other human sciences.
This belief in the necessity of English training has enslaved us. It has unfitted us for true national service.
