Me Speak Pretty One Day, But Do YOU?
I have a serious question. Do some people who immigrate to the US think that they should not have to learn English in order to live out that "American dream" which they have come to seek? If there are people out there that do indeed feel that way, and I know there are, I am pretty disgusted.
America is nothing without immigrants. I know that. My maternal grandparents were born in Norway/Denmark and my paternal grandparents were from Germany. I only knew my mother's (adoptive) father and my father's mother. Both spoke English better than I do, though my grandfather pronounced his "J" sound as a "Y" sound (for example, his favorite dog was named Judy, but he called her Yudy), but I found that endearing and a reminder of where he came from. There was NEVER a question of whether or not they would learn English. They did, either when they arrived or before they arrived, because it was a privilege to them to be in America. Even if they snuck in, as many people did, they learned to speak English. It was about acclimating to their new surroundings, and making the most of it.
I would never dream of moving to Japan or Italy and not learning to speak the language. So why do these immigrants believe that they should not have to? I know this does not go for every person who comes to the US seeking out a better life. My dry cleaner has broken English, but she tries. And every time I see her, I understand a bit more, and she does too. It's the people that don't try and just expect that they will get by. And most likely they will. Because dreams do come true here, and Americans are very accepting (or maybe that's just New Yorkers) of all types of people. But if you want to be a FILL-IN-THE-BLANK-American, then act like one. Learn the language. And when you have trouble, we'll all be here to help you along.
America is nothing without immigrants. I know that. My maternal grandparents were born in Norway/Denmark and my paternal grandparents were from Germany. I only knew my mother's (adoptive) father and my father's mother. Both spoke English better than I do, though my grandfather pronounced his "J" sound as a "Y" sound (for example, his favorite dog was named Judy, but he called her Yudy), but I found that endearing and a reminder of where he came from. There was NEVER a question of whether or not they would learn English. They did, either when they arrived or before they arrived, because it was a privilege to them to be in America. Even if they snuck in, as many people did, they learned to speak English. It was about acclimating to their new surroundings, and making the most of it.
I would never dream of moving to Japan or Italy and not learning to speak the language. So why do these immigrants believe that they should not have to? I know this does not go for every person who comes to the US seeking out a better life. My dry cleaner has broken English, but she tries. And every time I see her, I understand a bit more, and she does too. It's the people that don't try and just expect that they will get by. And most likely they will. Because dreams do come true here, and Americans are very accepting (or maybe that's just New Yorkers) of all types of people. But if you want to be a FILL-IN-THE-BLANK-American, then act like one. Learn the language. And when you have trouble, we'll all be here to help you along.
posted by Tracy at 5:41 PM
1 Comments:
Thank you, thank you, 100 times over I thank you for your awesomeness. In fact I've made the EXACT SAME argument about moving to other countries. If you plan on using "-American" in your ethnicity nomenclature, it means more than just setting up shop in our country.
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