Thread: Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English

Originally Posted by JMS

......

And now he is not talking and sticking his tongue out. How immature...

Originally Posted by icedog

My father's father Almicare came to the USA from Italy in the late 1920's. He and his wife Josephine got off a ship at Ellis Island. They settled in Bridgeport, CT. He got a job in maintenance at General Electric and worked there until he retired. Almicare and Josephine had two sons and three daughters. The boys, my father and his brother Angelo had to quit school and work so the family could eventually buy the three family house in which they were renting an apartment. My grandfather worked very hard even after his retirement. He always kept a very fruitful garden and made alot of really nice wines. By the time he died in 1972, although he understood a fair amount of it, Almicare spoke no English. I am glad he wasn't deported.

In the area where I work there are a ton of old Portuguese guys who speak little or no English. They built half the houses in Toronto and used their wages to build good solid families and one of Toronto's best ethnic neighbourhoods. T. O. would be a d**ned sight poorer without them.

Best Regards

goshawk

Originally Posted by jockeys

The gentleman says he will have the fish.

Butter it up and drag 'em through the garden.

I teach undergrad lab in a Major US university, you will be amazed how poor the writing and speaking skills of today's American youth is..
I agree on another hand that everyone needs to know a decent level of written and spoken English. For example the majority of Chinese students that come here have nonexisting English language skills, I wonder how they get good grades on their language tests TOEFL, GRE etc

I lived in Miami for years in an area known as 'Little Havana'. It had been all Anglo but 'white flight' and the influx of refugees changed it to being largely Cuban. Now all of Miami is predominantly Latino. Hard working and industrious people. Many of them weren't bilingual but they didn't have to be in that environment.

Now here in the WPB area Mexicans are coming in large numbers. I guess that is all over the USA from what I hear. I have a friend whose grandparents came over from Italy and Ireland. Obviously he is of Italian/Irish ancestry. Funny part is that he is always railing against immigrants and immigration. He doesn't see the irony of this.

I read in the history of these sometimes United States that anti immigration sentiment was high against Italians, Irish, Russians and what have you in the late 1800s early 1900s. Some things never change. I guess there is a tribal instinct that is an innate part of all of us.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I lived in Miami for years in an area known as 'Little Havana'. It had been all Anglo but 'white flight' and the influx of refugees changed it to being largely Cuban. Now all of Miami is predominantly Latino. Hard working and industrious people. Many of them weren't bilingual but they didn't have to be in that environment.

Now here in the WPB area Mexicans are coming in large numbers. I guess that is all over the USA from what I hear. I have a friend whose grandparents came over from Italy and Ireland. Obviously he is of Italian/Irish ancestry. Funny part is that he is always railing against immigrants and immigration. He doesn't see the irony of this.

I read in the history of these sometimes United States that anti immigration sentiment was high against Italians, Irish, Russians and what have you in the late 1800s early 1900s. Some things never change. I guess there is a tribal instinct that is an innate part of all of us.

I grew up in an unincorporated part of Ft. Lauderdale and post-Andrew the population in Broward exploded, as did the amount of Latin Americans. I think the issue with those older European generations was that they felt they did it the right way going through Ellis Island whereas Latin Americans have the stigma of having arrived illegally.

My understanding is that all waves of non-english speaking immigrants went thru a generation before all of them were fully speaking english. The older people never learned, but their kids did, and it took a generation to do it. A good example is scandinavian and german immigrants who settled in the midwest in the 1800s. I personally enjoy the opportunity to speak spanish from time to time here in California.

Originally Posted by commiecat

I grew up in an unincorporated part of Ft. Lauderdale and post-Andrew the population in Broward exploded, as did the amount of Latin Americans. I think the issue with those older European generations was that they felt they did it the right way going through Ellis Island whereas Latin Americans have the stigma of having arrived illegally.

I would venture to say that the majority of the Latin Americans in FL came here legally. I don't know that for sure but I think I'm correct. I'm not including the current influx of Mexicans who come looking for work. I have no idea what the percentages are for them one way or the other.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I would venture to say that the majority of the Latin Americans in FL came here legally. I don't know that for sure but I think I'm correct. I'm not including the current influx of Mexicans who come looking for work. I have no idea what the percentages are for them one way or the other.

Oh, I completely agree. It's just that growing up down there, I heard all-too-often comments about hopping fences or floating on rafts. I can relate to your comments about the older Italian/Irish people's thoughts about immigrants; I think that some of them feel that their ancestors are, inexplicably, more legitimate Americans than Latin Americans.

Second post today that had something to do with the 30s 40s. The largest group of immigrants to the US were Germans. They were so eager to fit in they had schools to lose their accents so they could assimilate American culture. There were probably more German Americans fighting for the Allies than any other group. That FDR was a real radical
Mike