Re: Bruce content (with Laurie Anderson as well)

On Sat, 6 May 2006 16:43:32 -0400, "A to Z"
<BESUREadietzTO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Denise" <LuvTheBoss@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1146947299.813435.322350@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
But for the past few weeks people here have been obsessing on how
wrong it is for people to
come here who do not instantaneously have full command of the English
language. <


I think a lot of us don;t worry about people who come here not speaking the
language. We worry about too many people coming here and never learning the
language, so that we end up as a linguistically balkanized society. As a
government, we should offer helping tools to immigrants to help them get
started, to allow them access to all the facilities at their disposal. But
should we not also expect in return that they eventually learn enough
English to get by? I know that if I lived in Japan or Germany, I would be
very grateful for locals who spoke English and helped me ake my way in a
strange new place. But I also would expect to learn enough of those
languages so that I could pass my own driver's test/read my own street
signs/carry on a conversation with my boss, coworkers or customers.

My dad's former next door neighbor was a Greek woman who came to the
States in the early 1950s, as a widow with 2 young daughters, settling
in Arkansas where she had a cousin. Without a means of support, she
did what she knew how to do: cook. She opened a restaurant which she
had for close to 20 years, employing 15-20 people at any one time,
paid her taxes, etc. She never learned English. To this day (she's
alive & kicking at 84), while she has great comprehension skills, she
has difficulty putting 5 words together to form a sentence in English.
Her children entered school here and became fluent in English (in
fact, her oldest daughter was tutored after school by one Bill
Clinton; she told her mom, 'he's a nice boy, and I think he'll be
someone important some day'). ;-)

While command of the English language certainly improves one's chances
of succeeding in this country, it is not *essential* for success or
survival.

Chris
.

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