Should Immigrants Be Made To Learn English If They're Living In The USA?

by minimus 68 Replies latest jw friends

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  robson

  be made I don't think so everyone who doesn't speak english is not force to do so at someone's request, they ought to learn it at their own pace and according to their circunstances. I've been in the US for 5 years I came here when I was 17 without been able to speak english and it was not easy. I learn when I went to school now that I speak 4 languages nothing has changed to me I'm still facing the struggles of being illegal and not getting a job to support myself because of a social but who knows I'll accomplish more than people who is been here all their lives I'm majoring in 3 majors and planning to go to med school. America is open for all.

  also being a witness without having privileges people looks down on you so to speak don't look down on anybody because of their background just understand them and help them they will appreciate that and in the future would help you as well. peace out bros. Robson
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  undercover

  ...large populations of immigrants living in their own ghettos, refusing to learn english, staking out a piece of my country and making it the same as place they left, no english signage whatsoever

  I see that too. There's a part of town we call "Little Tijuana" because, well, it looks like you just crossed the border. It's unusual to us because we're not a big city.

  But to be fair, you see these "little" communities in the bigger cities all across the US. Little Italy, Chinatown, the list goes on... They blend their own culture with that of the locals and create an entirely new culture. A little bit old world, a little bit new world... and great cuisine.
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  StAnn

  I have some Polish friends who have lived their whole lives in Chicago and never learned a word of English. This may have worked years ago but today it is not economically feasible. If someone wants to better themselves and get a job, they can't limit themselves to jobs where only their language is spoken. They are perpetuating their own poverty if they don't learn the language.
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  JWoods

  A lot of this issue goes to school funding...many proponents of putting more money into education would like to see a dual-language school system in such places as LA - who are already in deep financial trouble.

  I think that any kids growing up in the US who are not educated in English are being essentially socially abused and set up for future difficulty in society.

  My wife is Vietnamese, (came here from Nam in 1975), and ALL of them have become fully enlish speaking as soon as they could after immigrating.
• 

  Girlie

  Yes
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  JeffT

  Years ago I read an autobiography of a woman who immigrated here with her Italian parents as a young child. She can remember her father saying "we are in America now, we speak English, even at home" - even though no one in the family spoke very much English.

  I don't like the idea of compelling the study of English but it would make sense that immigrants should learn English. If I moved to Japan and expected everybody to speak English to me forever, I'd be fulfilling the sterotype of a buffoonish American.
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  VampireDCLXV

  They blend their own culture with that of the locals and create an entirely new culture. A little bit old world, a little bit new world...

  That's all fine and good but there's something insidious about it. When these people collect in large communities, they aren't just refusing to learn and speak english, many are refusing to adopt the customs, social mores and to fully adopt the laws of their new country. This leads to them often refusing to leave behind the seriously negative parts of their culture. (Pheh! So much for the new.) This then leads them to taking the law into their own hands according to their own customs and refusing to cooperate with the authorities. I've seen too much violence and familial abuses of power because of this. This also is often an opportunity for organized crime to gain a foothold. It's not as harmless as you think.

  V665
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  undercover

  That's all fine and good but there's something insidious about it....

  Nothing insidious about the trailer park full of white trash either, or those hillbillies that never come down out of the hills...

  Point being, that it doesn't matter what language you speak, what culture you come from, the possibility exists for a group to isolate themselves and act against the social mores or refuse to adapt.

  While I'm sure there are some valid concerns, there are also people who aren't in organized crime, who don't abuse their families and who aren't violent that come from these areas. Just as there is organized crime, abused families and violence in the "privileged" white part of town.
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  undercover

  Hey... You really are a vampire. I quoted your words in a quote box and it had no flesh color to it... ooooooo
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  straightshooter

  I think that it would only be right to learn the language of the country one now lives in. Hence if I lived in Mexico, I should learn Spanish. If I live in the UK, Canada, U.S., Austrailia, or New Zealand then I should learn English. I should also learn the language required by my job, so if I was a airline pilot, then I should learn English.