AMERICAN ENGLISH & PUERTO RICO.

It is ridiculous to say that Puerto Rico is ready for statehood, but to confuse the issue with the idea that the new state must be bi-lingual.

In every nation, language forms the background of the identity of its people. It is the basic need to differentiate one nation from another; and if any group of people have the desire to be part of any nation then they must have the obligation or to be ready to conform to the norms that exist in that nation.

What most people in Puerto Rico are confused about are two things, allegiance and cultural identity; and so, when it comes to choosing a language, if the Island becomes a state, they are disproportionately split between the English and Spanish languages.

The percentage for a statehood stands at about 80% to 20% in favor; however, when it comes to languages, the situation is reversed, making the majority of them to prefer Spanish to be their "official" medium of expression.

Yet, they fail to realise that the United States is an English speaking country, and therefore all citizens must be inclined to use it in dealing with the laws stemming from the U.S. Constitution, which is written in English.

If the Island wants to be part of the U.S. then the people must be willing to accept its language as being paramount.

That does not mean that they have to discard their heritage or cultural leanings, which have their roots in Spanish traditions. The Islanders must be proud to embrace those traditions, but they cannot own allegiance to them than the language of the nation that they wish to join.

In U.S. courts, one cannot interpret the laws in any other way, but in English; unless a translation is needed occasionally in any other language for clarifying situations involving cases that must be dealt with in that manner.

Otherwise, by using English and other languages simultaneously, they will cause so much confusion for judges; and not to mention the conundrum for lawyers and their clients in any such case.

So it is in the U.S. military, that all commissioned officers must be fluent in the English language, as a requirement. It is in their best interest for them to give orders and to be understood instantly. It also makes their work a little easy too.

Nobody is asking the Islanders to relinquish the Spanish language; and everybody agrees that it is their birthright to keep it; however, the English language must come first in all deliberations, if the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico becomes the 51st State of the U.S.

The governor there wants to have his cake and eat it too, but that will be a wrong approach for the Island to be any different in regards to the English language. He has even chosen a candidate for the Island, by backing Romney.

However, he is forgetting that the real reason for Romney to be on the Island is to get the votes he needs in the primary, which he hopes will lead to his clinching the Republican Party nomination, and so he (Romney) will do and say anything to tantalize the voters there.

The real truth is that the people must adopt the English language, in order to be able to call themselves as Americans; as it is the language that the founding fathers, and their ancestry after them, have been using, culminating in the U.S Constitution, for the purpose of uniting the nation.

Learning the English language will not happen overnight, but it must start with the desire of the people to vote in a referendum leading to statehood for the Island. They will succeed, by dint of hard work, and a change of attitude toward the American English.

That is the only way; and that will definitely conclude the Island being part of the U.S. in the future.