The Washington Post had an interesting article about a California Town that is trying to get it's residents to learn English. Here is the money quote:
"Most immigrants want to learn English, Pulido said, but "culturally, there is a disincentive" in Southern California. "I can go to the bank in Spanish, the store, the laundry, read a newspaper, listen to the radio, watch TV -- all in Spanish," he said. Even many Asian immigrant merchants speak Spanish. Workers can build houses, trim lawns, cook in restaurants and work on assembly lines for years without speaking a word of English."
Stories like this show why the current immigration wave is different from previous immigration influxes into the U.S. Here is a very revealing video it is an interview of two immigrants and the gap in their communication skills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Olz9sLlZ0E
3 comments:
It's called CAPITALISM my friend...it'a about making that extra buck. If you don't like it, get out of this country.
Problem with this is that the second girl who speaks english well has lost a lot of her culture. We have to remember that we don't live in England. English is not the official language of America. For those who don't learn how to speak english well it's their choice. However, they will suffer from their decision if they go outside of their community. Again, this is a capitalist country and if a specific job requires that one speaks english well, then the person who can speak english better will get it. On the same hand, if there's a job where spanish is required and/or preferred...well, you get the idea.
Well where to begin. Learning English has nothing to do with losing ones culture. It has a lot to do with doing well inside the United States and most immigrants would agree.
But, let me tell you about an incident that happened to me a few months ago. I was almost broadsided in my car by a landscaping truck driven by a hispanic driver. I guess he was not able to read the sign d the sign in his lane that said "LEFT LANE MUST TURN LEFT".
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