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Quezada, who lives in a shabby third-floor apartment on a block next to a highway, began working in a factory after arriving in the U.S. 26 years ago.
In 2006, he opened his own bodega, which is run by his son Casiano, 23. But he chooses to play the lottery at Eagle Liquors because he never applied for a license.
The winner is 44 years old - has been here 26 years - since he was 18. He was speaking in Spanish on the phone to his mother - where does it say that he CAN'T speak English?
Quote:
'We won! We won! We're not gonna be poor anymore!' he told his mother as he spoke on the phone in Spanish after discovering the massive win, the New York Post reported.
Last edited by Grasonville; 03-26-2013 at 11:43 AM..
Reason: WHat he said to his Mom
Thank you!! My father was an immigrant from Poland & Concentration Camp survivor. It didn't stop Americans who had been here for generations b4 him from treating him like dirt & a 2nd class citizen, even after he learned English as best he could with only a 3rd grade education, worked his whole life to provide for his family, bought 2 homes, and became a citizen as soon as he could. I am sick of people who are a product of immigrants themselves discriminating against immigrants! Just because the ones getting all the crap now are darker skinned doesn't make them any different from your ancestors who came here a generation or two or three ago & went thru hell too from bigots who thought they were better. It's Shameful!
From what I gathered, my MIL was extremely prejudiced towards immigrants from anywhere else but her country which had been gobbled up by the Soviet Union. Then again, she was minimally educated if at all, and survived a concentration/ occupation camp during WW2 and somehow immigrated to the U.S. and made her way to Chicago.
As time wore on, her ethnic community trended Hispanic for a few decades. Post her death, gentrification took hold and not much of the Eastern European or Hispanic community survived.
It blew me away that people could manage in a country for so long and never leave their ethnic neighborhood/church/shopping/banking. Both were employed by a commercial cleaning company and cleaned offices during the evening. The hiring supervisors were bilingual.
The first generation learned English at school.
I went to college with a guy who was born in Chicago but whose parents were from Poland. He had a Polish accent because he didn't speak a word of English until he went to kindergarten at 5.
I also notice that many of the American-born kids my sons go to school with sometimes have fairly distinct Indian accents because their parents speak Indian English as well as their native languages to the kids at home.
I hope he doesn't go back to DR though and start flossing he may end up dead. So far he has been a little care free. He still needs to claim the ticket.
My wife bought a lotto ticket in Missouri. She asked the clerk, "Is this lotto ticket valid in Canada"? The clerk looked at her and said, "What state is Canada in"? LOL. She was no immigrant either, just an Ozark mountain daredevil of some sort, I guess!!!!
A bit lame imo. I couldn't imagine living in any country for 26 years and not becoming proficient in the main language.
Nor can I. It is being lazy and disrespectful of the society/country you made the conscious decision to migrate to. I know people who have been here that long also and they weren't over 50 when they moved here. They were much younger and just plain refuse to learn English. Some even know English but won't speak it unless they have to. It's just plain rude, IMO. I don't care what language one speaks at home but for God's sake assimilate to ours out in mainstream. Yes, I know English isn't our official language on the federal level but just the same it is our national de facto language. Many of our states have adopted English as our official language.
Kak dela
horasho
Dos vydania
I know a few words in Russian, I've never lived in Russia.
Bon appetite, mademoiselle, bon jour
Never lived in France
Lift and lory
Never lived in England
Ni how
Never lived in China
etc...
I find it quite unlikely that someone living in the US for over a few months, doesn't know one word in English.
I too was stunned, at the time.
They did not own a TV or a radio and I am not sure they knew how to read, given I never saw a foreign language paper or book. Everything they needed was within walking distance and they only did business with their own kind. Those who had dual language skills were usually in a position of relative power.
It was clearly possible to live in ethnic neighborhoods in the U.S. and not be exposed to English, especially in the 50-80's.
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