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Old 05-11-2010, 09:01 AM   #66 (permalink)
dippin
Crazy, indeed
 
Location: the ether
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cimarron29414 View Post
I don't believe anyone should abandon their own language or heritage upon immigration. There was a very common sentiment in the early 20th century for various cultural groups (i.e.) "Italian in the home, English in the street." Learning the language of your new country doe not diminish your cultural heritage at all.

My other objection is the expense associated with multiple languages in commerce and government. If every form, email, webpage, worker, signage, etc. must be in multiple languages, there is a huge cost associated with that and that cost is passed on to the consumer. We pay for the Lowe's signs in English and Spanish. We pay for the driver's tests in English and Spanish. No other culture in our grand history has demanded that all forms of communication be available in their language as well. All of the early immigration was simply understood that one had to (eventually) learn English to work/live in America. I have a lot of Russian, Turkish, and Indian friends. They all learned English first thing, no questions asked.

Lowe's, etc. are doing things in Spanish not because anyone "demanded," but they saw a profit opportunity.

And the idea that in the past it was "simply understood that one had to (eventually) learn English to work/live in America" is not true, unless you count a couple of generations as "eventually."

Recent immigrants, especially Spanish speaking, have been assimilating at a much, much faster pace than most groups in the past. On average, for recent Hispanic immigrants English becomes the primary language at home in 2 generations.
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