[Rudey]

I believe the phrase is "Six in one hand, half a dozen in the other".

-Rudey

Originally posted by MysticCat81
Actually, no. An official language is one that has privileged/protected status under the law, regardless of whether the majority of the people in the country actually speak it (i.e., regardless of whether it is the common language of the country or unifies the country).

For example, Irish (Irish Gaelic) is the "first official language" of Ireland, even though far less than 1/4 of the people in the Republic speak it as their native language. (Most schools are required to teach it.) English is the "second official language," according to Article 8 of the Irish Constitution. Accordingly, if there is disagreement as to the meaning of a provision of the Irish Constitution, the Irish text takes precendence over the English text.

English is the official language of Botswana, even though it is spoken on a daily basis by only about 3% of the population, while Setswana (spoken by over 75%) is the "national language" of the country. French is the official language of Burkina Faso and Benin, while the majority of people speak African languages and have to be taught French in school. The same situation can be seen in many former French and British colonies -- here, English or French may be "common" in the sense that they are the languages that various groups in the country hold in common, but they are hardly the commonly-used languages of most people. They operate almost as a diplomatic compromise.

For more: Wikipedia: Official Language and Wikipedia: National Language

I certainly haven't heard all reports, but I haven't heard any legislators who support this measure refer to this as an "official language" provision -- I've heard "national" and "common and unifying." These terms simply recognize that English is the de facto national language of the US-- the language spoken by most people and commonly used in government and commerce; they don't confer any privileged status on English.
Not necessarily. It would depend on the actual provisions of any law making English the official language of the country. A law could make English the official language, but still allow for the use of other languages or could prohibit the official use of other languages. Other languages could include Spanish and other immigrant languages, as well as native languages, such as Cherokee, Navajo, etc.