What do you expect from immigrants?

They don't have to become naturalized. All they have to do is move to a blue state county and increase their electoral power.

 

When did I say there was something wrong with it?

 

You implied it.

 

People can speak whatever language they want in public as well - in America.

 

In absolutely no way. Get a hold of your imagination.

 

No he didn't. Not even a little.

 

That's ok with me.

 

You two need to get a room.

 

The big lie^

 

Well no kidding,dick tracy. What gave you your first clue?

 

One of my best friends immigrated to America from South Korea when he was 12 years old. His oldest son is pretty darn fluent in Spanish but has yet to master Korean beyond the basics. He regrets this, but acquiring languages beyond your first has to do with a number of environmental and affective factors that can encourage or discourage successful acquisition.

 

No, Gray is right. You need to put a check on the ASSumptions.

 

That response was not directed at you. Got nose problems?

 

In some areas and in certain circumstances it is socially unacceptable to speak another language. I think @unkotare is rejecting this social expectation but I could be wrong. Personally I think it's fine to speak another language in a private conversation out in public but not when in a group discussion.

 

Obviously it is impracticable to speak TO someone in a language they can’t understand.

 

It's preposterous to declare the inner workings of the Chinese diaspora, when you're not a part of it. They are the most determined of all diaspora groups, to retain language. And they do so easily. 99% of Chinese parents in the West will speak their dialect in the home. The kids who claim to have lost language are simply those who choose not to speak it away from home, or who are 'pretending' - probably sucking up to whitey in high school, or some other equally fatuous reason. I guarantee they understand every word said to them, though.

 

When both parents speak the mother tongue exclusively in the home, that's what you'll get. I have friends whose kids were born in a non-English speaking nation (the mother a native English speaker, the father a local but opting to use English at home), and neither child speaks a word of that nation's language at ages 6 and 3 respectively. They'll learn it via school, but they will remain English speakers for life.

 

The first generation of immigrants. By the second most speak English only at home. The kids fresh off the boat can spot the American kids a mile away, and often have a hard time relating to (to say nothing of speaking with) them.

No matter the country of origin, the pattern remains largely the same.

 

Nope. Not how it works.

 

That is either not true, or you have left out pertinent details.

 

It's absolutely true. Neither child has started school, and are at home all day with their English speaking mother. Dad comes home from work and also speaks English. When the kids go to the park etc and mix with other kids, they resort to a mix of hand signals, kid-telepathy (which is universal), and the minimal English that some of the local kids have.

 

I defy you to NOT learn a language spoken almost exclusively in your family home from the day you were born, until you left as a young adult.

 

help grow our economy because we must.

 

It absolutely does not! I have friends and relatives whose ancestors left China 400 years ago, and they ALL speak fluent Cantonese or Hokkien (some speak both). When it's the lingua franca of the home, you can not NOT learn it.

 

It absolutely does not! I have friends and relatives whose ancestors left China 400 years ago, and they ALL speak fluent Cantonese or Hokkien (some speak both). When it's the lingua franca of the home, you can not NOT learn it.