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<blockquote data-quote="solitarysiren" data-source="post: 150604" data-attributes="member: 7474"><p>My blood is boiling as I'm reading these posts. I understand the sentiment that immigrants to a new country should learn the language. It's a matter of survival. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Develpmentally speaking, it is incredibly more difficult for adults to learn a new language. It's not by choice that older immigrants have great difficulty learning English. Their children attend American schools and are placed in a very difficult position. They become the link between their old way of life and the new. This is something that is nearly impossible to understand unless one has been in this situation.</p><p> </p><p>What angers me the most about the "everyone-should-speak-English-or-bear-the-stigma-of-'illiteratemoron'" mentality is that I only hear it from people who have never been outside of the country, let alone their own state. Judgments such as this are easy to make when you are always in your comfort zone.</p><p> </p><p>My parents were illegal immigrants. They came in search of a better life. They were never on welfare. They found honest work. Yes, they were janitors. My dad was always very proud that he did everything honestly. Yes,they both learned English, reaching native fluency. Despite that, there was still plenty of discrimination to be found simply because he didn't 'look' American or because of his accent.</p><p> </p><p>I was born in Los Angeles and raised in the U.S. all my life. I grew up in that cultural limbo, at times playing interpreter for various family members and friends. I am more than happy to help out strangers when the need arises. I help people willingly because I know some of the difficulties that my parents went through. I know some of the obstacles that they overcame. I also know that my parents arent' the only ones to have experienced this, nor am I the first generation to bridge two vastly different worlds.</p><p> </p><p>I have learned three other languages to date: French, German, and Hebrew. I have traveled abroad alone and gained first hand experience what it is like to have to fend for yourself with limited working knowledge of the language. This was not a life or death situation for me. I didn't flee my home land to escape tyranny, poverty, or despair. I even had the luxury of learning enough of the language to get by on my own. Nevertheless, living in a foreign land starting from scratch is perhaps one of the scariest things to do. You cannot understand that until you experience it for yourself.</p><p> </p><p>I guess my point in all this is that people have no compassion for anything that they don't understand. The world isn't black and white. There is so much for people to learn from one another, but we're too busy nitpicking at the irrelevant details that all we do is put up walls and create voluntary enemies.</p><p> </p><p>But hey, to each their own, right? My little tyrade won't change anyone's mind or create a revolution, but I'm free to say it, right? Well, I have my parents to thank for that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="solitarysiren, post: 150604, member: 7474"] My blood is boiling as I'm reading these posts. I understand the sentiment that immigrants to a new country should learn the language. It's a matter of survival. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Develpmentally speaking, it is incredibly more difficult for adults to learn a new language. It's not by choice that older immigrants have great difficulty learning English. Their children attend American schools and are placed in a very difficult position. They become the link between their old way of life and the new. This is something that is nearly impossible to understand unless one has been in this situation. What angers me the most about the "everyone-should-speak-English-or-bear-the-stigma-of-'illiteratemoron'" mentality is that I only hear it from people who have never been outside of the country, let alone their own state. Judgments such as this are easy to make when you are always in your comfort zone. My parents were illegal immigrants. They came in search of a better life. They were never on welfare. They found honest work. Yes, they were janitors. My dad was always very proud that he did everything honestly. Yes,they both learned English, reaching native fluency. Despite that, there was still plenty of discrimination to be found simply because he didn't 'look' American or because of his accent. I was born in Los Angeles and raised in the U.S. all my life. I grew up in that cultural limbo, at times playing interpreter for various family members and friends. I am more than happy to help out strangers when the need arises. I help people willingly because I know some of the difficulties that my parents went through. I know some of the obstacles that they overcame. I also know that my parents arent' the only ones to have experienced this, nor am I the first generation to bridge two vastly different worlds. I have learned three other languages to date: French, German, and Hebrew. I have traveled abroad alone and gained first hand experience what it is like to have to fend for yourself with limited working knowledge of the language. This was not a life or death situation for me. I didn't flee my home land to escape tyranny, poverty, or despair. I even had the luxury of learning enough of the language to get by on my own. Nevertheless, living in a foreign land starting from scratch is perhaps one of the scariest things to do. You cannot understand that until you experience it for yourself. I guess my point in all this is that people have no compassion for anything that they don't understand. The world isn't black and white. There is so much for people to learn from one another, but we're too busy nitpicking at the irrelevant details that all we do is put up walls and create voluntary enemies. But hey, to each their own, right? My little tyrade won't change anyone's mind or create a revolution, but I'm free to say it, right? Well, I have my parents to thank for that. [/QUOTE]
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