These are the sections of the 101 law about software:

Any inscription on a product, on its content or on its packaging, on a document or object accompanying the product including the instruction manual, certificates of warranty must be written in French.

[This article] includes also, considering article 91, that no inscription written in an other language can prevail over the inscription written in French.

The instruction manual and the documentation related to a computer sold in a store must in French, the same thing for software.

Any software, including operating system or utilities, that is installed or not, must be available in French, unless there are no French versions that exists.

Are forbidden on the Quebec market the toys and games, [...], which functioning requires a vocabulary other than French unless that the toy or game is not available in French in conditions as favourable.

The fines for stores that will not obey the law is from 250$ to 7000$ Canadian depending on the case.

But if you go to Switzerland just about every single sign is required to be in four languages. The cost must be huge.

At the same time, language unites. Sometimes reading the BBC there are words that are a bit strange (example: yob–combination of youth & mob–what we would call a gang).

But Americans really speak gutter English. Not the “Queen’s”.

I would assume that “offical” means the operation of governmental business. Example: should all gov. documents be required to be in 2/3/4 languages. The 9/11 report was huge. What is the cost to be printed in spanish/french/english/braille??

I have no problem with any patriotic song sung in another language, as long as it is respectful. It is much less offensive than Rosanne Barr grabbing herself.

And actually the Dutch do have a grammer guide that is published by their gov. There may be a fine if you violate the code.

Quebec goes crazy over the language issue. They banned some clown toy from the US because it spoke only English. As far as I know I can have a toy that speaks French, Spanish, Arabic, or pig Latin.

That language is love and peace man….love and peace.

LOL. Sorry bro; I HAD to go after that one, too easy.

Where does an official language begin and where does it end? I already stated that I don’t think people should dictate what is proper English (as opposed to describing how English is used). You can’t really have an official language without defining what it is, and once goverment gets into that it all goes down hill. Will using slang or improper grammar be a crime in certain situations? I’m sorry but the word “blog” is not part of the official English language. I’m sorry, you can’t use the word “anime” to describe your business.

Even beyond that, what purpose does an official language serve? To make sure that all government documents are in English? They already are without the need of an official language. Does it ensure that all Americans can communicate? Well, it won’t regardless. I find it hard to communicate with a lot of people who were raised solely in Alabama. Plus, there’s always going to be slang?

Finally, personally, I don’t beleive language barrier’s won’t exist much longer. With the recent progress made in automatic translations, and the rise of international communication, separation of languages is bound to become very blurry. I’d like to see a future with one language (a giant merge of all the ones we have) that constantly changes.

Accomodation and an official language have nothing to do with one another. I’m all for learning other languages (already knowing a second) but for the sake of setting expectations, I feel English should be the official language. Don’t confuse that statement with immigration, however, which I proudly support. It’s just that I feel the US has become a “salad bowl” rather than a mixing pot. Make your culture and background a part of this country, not something we isolate.