Members elsongs Posted July 11, 2007 Members Share Posted July 11, 2007 Hey Elson! If you are ok with the challenge/price of moving into the US, then it is all worth. But that was never my choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ViLo Posted July 12, 2007 Members Share Posted July 12, 2007 It is a TOTAL misconception that immigrant groups "refuse to assimilate and speak English." That's just loaded language to alienate them even further. If you tracked individual immigrant families from the time they arrived here over the course of year, you WILL find that they DO learn English. Did they learn English overnight? Of course not, but then neither did you. The thing is, the American mainstream doesn't care about that and just sees the immigrant group as one, Borg-like mass that thinks alike (au contraire, EVERY ethnic group has ideological/political/cultural/religious/philosophical divisions) and the one family who is on the English learning curve is ignored because there's another immigrant family that has just arrived. What most Americans are unaware of is the true reality: - Most immigrants come here in their 30s, 40s, 50s. - The younger ones are more apt to learn English - The older ones have resigned to the fact that they are too old to learn the language fluently - They have children born and raised here WHO SPEAK ENGLISH - The children become cultural brokers for their parents, explaining all things to them American and helping them assimilate - The parents still speak to them in their native language because, well, you talk to your kids in the language you are most comfortable with. But they in no way want to deny them the opportunity to speak in English because they know that by speaking English they can get a better education and higher-paying jobs. - The kids grow up and are in a unique position to bridge cultural and generational gaps BUT: - Their native culture derides them as "too Americanized" and not worthy of being part of their culture. - American mainstream culture derides them as "too foreign" and not worthy of being a true American. And they are largely ignored by both their native culture and by the American mainstream. These are the people both America and the native-speaking immigrant groups should be listening to, but both refuse to. So they have serious identity crisis issues. Are they of their native culture? Or are they American? Neither one embraces them. THAT is the problem. How do I know this? I'm one of those people. And I know so many others from other groups. :phil::phil::phil::phil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ViLo Posted July 12, 2007 Members Share Posted July 12, 2007 I have a friend that from time to time he'll go and clean up the place where I work, he is illegal, but he's starting his own lawn service business, every time that he sees me, he has a notebook and ask many questions, he's learning English I'm teaching him the little English I know. I was born here int the US, but grew up in MExico, I had to learn the language, and many people that I know is going to school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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