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Is it just me or does it seem to you that immigrants in the past usually came here to be Americans - There were organized efforts within their communities, as well as in the larger society around them, to help them assimilate - But today, there are activists working in just the opposite direction, to keep foreigners foreign, to demand that society adjust to them by making everything accessible to them and in their own language, minimizing their need to learn English - agree or disagree ?
@diana1993, that's the most amazingly ignorant statement I've heard in a long time. Non-citizens cannot get social security benefits. They actually are a net-positive to the social security system as they pay taxes into it, but can receive no benefits out of it.
@amblessed, in a certain sense you are right. There are agitators that promote the rights of immigrants. The de-facto language of the USA is English. It's also the de-facto language of the internet. People are not as stupid as you might think... they know that to really get ahead in life, you need to learn english, and if they don't their children will. I have immigrant friends from many countries, and their grandparents or parents from the home countries speak very little english.
In the days of old (pre 1950's), when an immigrant came to this country, it was generally with the idea that you could never go back. You came on a boat (travel was expensive), there was no phones back to the old country. Forget about television, and very little news about it too.
As an immigrant to this country, I can call my brother back home on Skype for free, or by regular phone almost free, fly back just for the weekend, or invite my family here for a couple of days. With those conditions in place, why should I forsake my home country's customs and language?
That being said (and now, this applies to all immigrants), we're not as stupid as you might think. Despite all the agitation by people wanting to retain languages and cultures, we understand that without learning English, the future is pretty bleak here. We understand that we have to "assimilate" to a certain extent, so we can get hired, fired, start our own businesses and generally enjoy the fruits of the American dream.
I'd encourage you to wake up, and realize that technology is changing everything. We're not just American citizens anymore, we're now world citizens. The team that runs Funadvice has an amazing background that spans this country and the world too. You may be answering questions of users that are from many different places quite foreign to you, and I'm sure you might not even have realized it.
As someone who lived in New York for the past 12 years, I 've been in neighborhoods where Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Russian, Spanish, French, Chinese and Arabic are spoken. Signs are in all those languages. Restaurants have all those foods.
The question is, is that a bad thing? Does a Mexican aspire less to the American dream than an Italian? Does a child in public school with all of those nationalities in the same class as him not want to aspire to something great too?
English will always be a difficult language for direct immigrants. They will eventually learn it, and if not, their children will. So it has been since the beginning, and so it will continue into the future.
People come here for many reasons... economic, freedom, opportunities and maybe a combination or all of those. Don't try to change America from what is is and was into a nativist backwater, instead of the most dynamic country on earth.
I don't know about that. My ex-mother-in-law was proud to be from Poland and still spoke Polish almost fluently and my ex-father-in-law was born in the US but his parents, aunts, uncles, etc. were all from Irland and he seemed equally proud of his Irish heritage.
As far as the need to know English goes, there are places in America where you can get by speaking only Spanish but there are areas where it is difficult. Most of the Hispanics I know speak English better than most Americans and speak Spanish as well.
America is a melting pot. Foreigners who come here do not dilute our culture; they make it richer. I agree that it is in everyone's best interest to have a shared language but I'd rather them keep the best of their culture.
my parents are immigrants, bulgarian, and we are in TX. i live in an english town, but before when i was born my sis went to a spanish school and didn't know english, only bulgarian, and a girl told her "you gotta learn the language" and she was talking spanish, not english. i totally agree with you. some cultures try to keep their culture alive. some ppl don't like being american, they want social security...
One way to reduce illegal immigration might be to translate some of our far left publications into Spanish and give everyone in Mexico subscriptions. After they read how terrible this country is, many may want to stay away.
Speaking as an immigrant, I know of no other immigrants in my sphere of contacts who do not want to assimilate.
