# Georgia Bill requires "English Only" Driver's Tests: Thoughts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 1, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653 "2010-04-01T22:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/81 "2010-04-05T05:14:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You’re missing the point. What right does the government have to decide one language is better than another? The people should be able to decide what language they want to speak and the government should then follow their lead. Millions of Americans speak Spanish; they have as much right to a government that speaks their language as English speakers do. The Government is in charge of the country. By that virtue alone they get to decide that if most people in the country speak English, then that’s the official language and anyone who can’t speak (say) English is welcome to start learning so they can communicate with everyone else. In English. I’m sure there are indeed millions of Spanish speaking American citizens, and you’re right, they are entitled to the same Government as everyone else. And I bet almost all of those Spanish-speaking citizens _can_ speak English and so would not be affected by a law saying “Anything Official will be in English only”. Like I said, I believe that if you emigrate to a foreign country the onus is on you to learn the local language and the Government is well within its rights to say “We’re only going to communicate in The Official Language, and if you can’t speak it, tough shit, you should have thought of that before you moved here.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/82 "2010-04-05T05:35:02Z")
> [@](#): > > The Government is in charge of the country. This appears to be the fundamental difference in our views. I don’t feel the government is in charge of the country. I feel the people are in charge and the government is only their agent in running the country. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/83 "2010-04-05T05:45:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This appears to be the fundamental difference in our views. I don’t feel the government is in charge of the country. I feel the people are in charge and the government is only their agent in running the country. The reality, I’m sure we all agree, is quite different though. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/84 "2010-04-05T06:04:27Z")
I do not agree. We choose Congress. We choose the President. They do not choose us. If we can replace them and they can’t replace us, we’re the ones in charge. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/85 "2010-04-05T06:05:49Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > My point is that if you live in a (hypothetical) English-speaking country and want to speak Spanish at home or with your friends at the pub or anything like that, go right ahead. But you should also be able to speak or understand English, and the Government should be able to do things like issue driver’s licensing tests in English and reasonably expect you to understand them. They’ve said the national language is English and if you can’t understand it then you’d be well advised to start learning. And what happens to people in the interim, between the point at which they move into the country with an official-documents-only-in-one-language policy and the point at which they have sufficient fluency in that language to conduct important business? Are you suggesting that no one ever move country before learning the language of their destination? (Sucks to be a refugee, I guess. Or an immigrant spouse.) That they be unable to fully engage in life in their new home until they meet those fluency standards, and if they never meet them, oh well? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/86 "2010-04-05T07:05:57Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > And what happens to people in the interim, between the point at which they move into the country with an official-documents-only-in-one-language policy and the point at which they have sufficient fluency in that language to conduct important business? Same thing normal people do when they’re in foreign countries and can’t understand things: phrasebooks, Babelfish/Google Translate, or ask someone who’s fluent in both languages. I don’t think they need to have ultimate fluency in the language of their new country, but enough to understand the basics, definitely. > [@](#): > > Are you suggesting that no one ever move country before learning the language of their destination? Not without understanding that they’re going to be at a significant disadvantage if they don’t, yes. > [@](#): > > (Sucks to be a refugee, I guess. Or an immigrant spouse.) Yeah, it does. Sorry you had to leave your old country for whatever reason. Here’s “English For Speakers Of Other Languages”. Start learning. Everyone else in this country speaks English. You can join them or not. Your choice, but don’t whinge that your minority language isn’t being catered to if you choose “not”. > [@](#): > > That they be unable to fully engage in life in their new home until they meet those fluency standards, and if they never meet them, oh well? More or less. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/87 "2010-04-05T07:32:00Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Same thing normal people do when they’re in foreign countries and can’t understand things: phrasebooks, Babelfish/Google Translate, or ask someone who’s fluent in both languages. Those things work nicely for tourists. None of them aid someone in gaining sufficient fluency to pass a driver’s license exam. > [@](#): > > I don’t think they need to have ultimate fluency in the language of their new country, but enough to understand the basics, definitely. And the phrasing of a driving test isn’t basic. > [@](#): > > Not without understanding that they’re going to be at a significant disadvantage if they don’t, yes. Not being able to legally drive a motor vehicle is more than a “significant disadvantage” if not being able to do so means that they cannot be employed, therefore cannot support themselves and their families. > [@](#): > > Yeah, it does. Sorry you had to leave your old country for whatever reason. Here’s “English For Speakers Of Other Languages”. Start learning. Everyone else in this country speaks English. You can join them or not. First of all, not everyone else in this country does speak English. If they did, there wouldn’t already be more than a half dozen languages that tests are available in now. And this isn’t asking them to _speak_ English, but to understand _written_ Bureau of Motor Vehicles-ese which uses words in contexts and meanings that don’t apply anywhere else. That’s something that, in some parts of the US, up to 1/5 of native born Americans cannot do – including Georgians. As has been noted, there is no bill pending to stop accommodating people who cannot read the test, so long as they’re illiterate native English speakers. If speaking and reading the common language of the country is so important, shouldn’t we demand it of our own citizenry _first_? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/88 "2010-04-05T07:36:22Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > If speaking and reading the common language of the country is so important, shouldn’t we demand it of our own citizenry _first_? Yes, you should- which is the point I made earlier that sparked this interesting tangent, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/89 "2010-04-05T13:37:17Z")
Color me confused, but aren’t the street signs now those nifty international signs so that it doesn’t matter what language the driver uses, they’ll still understand the sign? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653/90 "2010-04-05T14:23:07Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Color me confused, but aren’t the street signs now those nifty international signs so that it doesn’t matter what language the driver uses, they’ll still understand the sign? Not in the US. There are still many signs with written words rather than symbols. “No Turn On Red”, “Right Lane Must Turn Right”, etc. Many more examples [here](http://www.trafficsign.us/regsign.html). Though I understand foreign-language tests still require you to read these signs in English. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/georgia-bill-requires-english-only-drivers-tests-thoughts/534653.md?page=4)