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Sorry not buying it. If people are able to function in societyvby leveraging the bi lingual assistance, why would they bother to learn english? I would consider speaking our native language as a key criteria for measuring assimilation. I live in south florida and i can say there are a lot of people not bothering to learn english.
I agree with you immigrants SHOULD learn English - for many reasons - but at the same time... it's, well, hard. If you've ever lived outside the country, you'll find Americans are the first to put up a bubble of "mini-America" wherever they go and resist learning the local language (talking about ex-pats here not tourists). It's hard for anyone to suddenly learn a new language in middle age.
I agree with you immigrants SHOULD learn English - for many reasons - but at the same time... it's, well, hard. If you've ever lived outside the country, you'll find Americans are the first to put up a bubble of "mini-America" wherever they go and resist learning the local language (talking about ex-pats here not tourists). It's hard for anyone to suddenly learn a new language in middle age.
Leftists famously claim whenever the argument of illegal immigration comes up that "we are an nation of immigrants," and they use that argument to justify their support for unlimited immigration. Anybody should be allowed to come here that wants to.
It was actually Ronald Reagan who famously said it, but neither Reagan nor Dems say anybody should be allowed to come. Coming here has always been quite a tedious and complicated process. All kinds of background checks, interviews and fingerprinting etc.
I agree with you immigrants SHOULD learn English - for many reasons - but at the same time... it's, well, hard. If you've ever lived outside the country, you'll find Americans are the first to put up a bubble of "mini-America" wherever they go and resist learning the local language (talking about ex-pats here not tourists). It's hard for anyone to suddenly learn a new language in middle age.
Sure. It takes a minimum of seven years to become naturalized, so there is plenty of time to learn the language. Now it sounds like immigrants should learn before coming in, which sounds a little odd.
I agree with you immigrants SHOULD learn English - for many reasons - but at the same time... it's, well, hard. If you've ever lived outside the country, you'll find Americans are the first to put up a bubble of "mini-America" wherever they go and resist learning the local language (talking about ex-pats here not tourists). It's hard for anyone to suddenly learn a new language in middle age.
I know several who grew up in Panama canal zone and none of they bothered to learn any spanish.
I've never been able to understand the left's position on illegal immigration. First of all, they want to ignore the laws of the United States and let in anyone who might be in a difficult position from anywhere in the world without so much as a screening. Then, they want to legalize the people who have already come here illegally without so much as a screening. They also want to streamline the immigration process so its easier for people to come in without a decent screening. The funny part is that a huge majority of the people they want to come in don't come close to sharing their political ideology. The Latin American population is fanatically Catholic and isn't going to care much for a leftist agenda, and the refugees and immigrants from the Middle East are hugely Muslim and would be even less receptive. The whole "Nation of Immigrants" narrative is true, but all of those immigrants have one thing in common and that is a desire to assimilate into a broader and identifiable American culture.
First of all, there isn't a monolithic Left in the US (there likely isn't one in the World either, but let that go). I think there is general sympathy in the US for political refugees - people likely to be singled out for prison, torture, death (& their families & loved ones) on the basis of their political beliefs. However, there is a screening process in place, especially for the would-be refugees from the Middle East; given the possibility of ideologically committed sleeper agents within the humanitarian stream. We have vigorous screening for those slots, TMK, & I don't see anyone advocating we dismantle that screening process.
Similarly for illegal immigrants in the US - if they're law-abiding & have settled into communities and work, I think there should be a path for citizenship, if they want it (some of them may not, they may want to return to their country of origin, eventually). The normal path to naturalization would do, maybe a somewhat closer security screening & more attention paid to political/ideological groups & affiliations that the person has belonged to.
"The majority of Latin Americans are Christians (90%),[2] mostly Roman Catholics.[3][4] Membership in Protestant denominations is increasing, particularly in Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador and Puerto Rico.[5] Brazil has an active quasi-socialist Roman Catholic movement known as Liberation Theology.[citation needed] Anglicanism also has a long and growing presence in Latin America."
(My emphasis - there's a nice chart by country @ the URL. In fact, several charts, taken a few years apart, by two different entities.)
The percentages of Christians & Roman Catholics within that set varies from country to country, for historical reasons.
I don't know that much about the refugees out of the Middle East. Someone else can comment on them.
[quote=HockeyMac18;49055263]Second generation children will know the English language. These kind of assimilation issues resolve with time.[/QUOTE
Again, not buying it. Go visit Miami, there are plenty of young American born kids speaking only
Spanish. It just belies common sense that if people can function not speaking English
and don't hear it at home, they aren't incented to become truly functional in English to a point where they can conduct business successfully in that language.
Again, not buying it. Go visit Miami, there are plenty of young American born kids speaking only
Spanish. It just belies common sense that if people can function not speaking English
and don't hear it at home, they aren't incented to become truly functional in English to a point where they can conduct business successfully in that language.
I'm surrounded by second, third, and fourth generation immigrants here in CA (adults) - I'm well aware how they function in society. They all learn English.
They might grow up in their household learning their parent's native language (Spanish, for instance), but once they attend school, that changes immediately.
I'm surrounded by second, third, and fourth generation immigrants here in CA (adults) - I'm well aware how they function in society. They all learn English.
They might grow up in their household learning their parent's native language (Spanish, for instance), but once they attend school, that changes immediately.
These issues, as I said, resolve with time.
Not the case in South Florida, I dont have a statistic but the area seems to have become more predominatly Spanish speaking (look at the # of cable television stations). And i disagree on the expat comment, at my company (Fortune 5), if you want to land and be successful in a non English speaking country you have to be pretty much fluent in that language, no way you can perform well against your peers if you dont. At our LATAM headquarters, located in Ft Lauderdale, you have to be fluent in Spanish. Which is why I am learning that language. I dont think it should be the responsibility of the country you are immigrating to take the responsibility of teaching you that language or taking on the increased cost of going multi lingual.
Not the case in South Florida, I dont have a statistic but the area seems to have become more predominatly Spanish speaking (look at the # of cable television stations). And i disagree on the expat comment, at my company (Fortune 5), if you want to land and be successful in a non English speaking country you have to be pretty much fluent in that language, no way you can perform well against your peers if you dont. At our LATAM headquarters, located in Ft Lauderdale, you have to be fluent in Spanish. Which is why I am learning that language. I dont think it should be the responsibility of the country you are immigrating to take the responsibility of teaching you that language or taking on the increased cost of going multi lingual.
That may be your company, but having probably way too many friends who are or have been expats around the world, that's not always true. Whether F5 or not is a little irrelevant... many Americans living abroad do not work in F5 countries so why does that matter? Go to major cities like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Paris, etc. and you'll find 90% of the American expats there don't speak a lick of the native language. I was one of them, unfortunately (not for lack of trying).
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