Comments about ‘English assimilation process not always speedy’

"Some Germans, who represented the largest immigration push into Wisconsin, eschewed English into the 1910s, even the 1920s."

I can't imagine why it took such a sophisticated study for some people to realize that there have been many cases of foreign language vestiges in the past.

All it really takes is hearing Lawrence Welk's accent and then learning where/when was born and raised!

The root of the debate has been and always will be the criminal aspect of 12-20 million people here illegally. Everything else is a sidebar to justify or discredit on a peripheral basis.

I can't vouch for the study, but my German ancestors that came here, not only learned English, but anglicized their name from Windrow to Winters.

My Grandparents came from Germany between WWI and WWII. They attended German churches, listened to German Radio Stations and spoke only German at home. Many who were a part of the German community in SLC knew who they were and would ask me if I knew them when they would find out my last name. However, my grandfather learned english and spoke well enough that he could be understood by those who didn't speak the language. He embraced everything American and was greatful for the opportuntity to be here. My Grandmother had a more difficult time, but still managed to learn English well enough to talk to people who didn't speak German. So I would say that it is possible for immigrants to learn English if they want to.

In defense of Lawrence Welk - He DID at least SPEAK English. He wasn't trying to force his audience to speak Polish.

JBrady | 10:17 p.m It's 11,000,000. Most Americans took years to learn the native language; English.

Why did it take 1,763 words to finally get down to the last paragraph and admit that the real problem is the approach of a "critical mass" that is not just on a local level like the German and Norwegian communities you cite, but on a national basis.

All through your article you talk about the tendency NOT to learn English whenever you make it easy to get by without learning the language. A German farmer and his wife had lived here for 45 years when I met them and they had never learned a word of English. Not that they could not learn. They chose not to and they persisted in regarding themselves as Germans and not Americans.

At the point when this critical mass is reached on a national basis you risk national security. Witness the problems experienced by Canada, Ireland, Belgium, Israel, France, Balkans, Ukraine, etc. where virtual civil war has been going on drawn along lines defined by distinctive language groups. Yet you insist on portraying this as an issue of little importance. Why?

Could it be that you have tailored your research to support illegal immigration?

You just proved the opposite.

PEW says 11 million, Wikipedia says 12-20 million. No one knows for sure. The Federal government underestimated the 1986 count by 65%.

Since PEW relies on government census numbers, and most here illegally are not counted, the number is sure to be quite a bit higher.

My Grandparents learned English and flew the American Flag. Did not take handouts and loved this country. There is a difference when someone comes here legally and someone breaks into this country. My Grandparents did not have signs and instructions in their language. They had to learn ours. If I went to their country I would have to learn theirs. Illegals want us to become like them. They think we owe it to them. They have no intention of becoming one of us. If they did their free benefits would expire.

When my grandfather immigrated to the United States from Quebec, Canada, he declared that only English would be spoken in his home. My grandmother was Polish and she learned English this way. My birth father only knows English because of this. You can become assimilated if you want to do so.

How many of you have travelled outside this country?

When I've visited Europe I am grateful there are signs in English, along with other languages.

How many of our Hispanic immigrants are first- generation immigrants? Many or most. Their children and grandchildren will learn English just as European immigrants into this country did.

Speaking as an LDS church member, the best missionary we had in our ward in the northeast was a older Mexican woman who didn't speak any English. But she came to church every week where one of the ward members translated the meetings for her. I'm really surprised to see such harsh judgmentalism in a State dominated by the LDS Church.

"But research by two linguists examining German immigration to Wisconsin discovered that wasn't the case at all."

America was different back them. People lived with their extended families and were largely confined to self-sufficient neighborhoods or towns. They mostly interacted with the same people, day-in and day-out. Now the extended family is an anachronism and people must leave their neighborhoods every day to work and shop. The average person interacts with many more new faces today than in the past. A Spanish-speaking immigrant must not only interact with English-speaking Americans but with immigrants from other places like India, the Middle East, Africa, etc. It is now more essential than ever that America embraces a common language and that immigrants make learning that common language a high priority.

All immigrant groups have eventually learned english. Young people learn easier than old people.

So nothing is new? Our new spanish immigrants will learn english too. The old ones who don't learn very well will eventually get old and die, their children will learn.

This is the way it has always been, the way it will always be.

Our less educated and lower classes have always felt threatened by the new kid on the block, and more educated wana be leaders will stoke their fears with hopes of getting elected to office or selling advertising on radio. Seems some things never change.

I am a teacher and tutor of English as a Second Language to low-income immigrants in a rural community. I have worked with Pre-K through adults in their 40's and 50's. Learning English, which regularly breaks its own rules, is no easy task. It takes 7-10 years for children, with their adaptive little brains, to achieve full "academic fluency" - ie. although they may speak even unaccented English in everyday conversation after a year or so, it takes significantly longer to internalize textbook vocabulary and develop reading and writing skills.
For adults, whose brains are much less "plastic," especially those with limited or no previous education, the process is extremely overwhelming. Older adults have heavy accents and ingrained errors from self-teaching.
Most of my students do indeed live with extended family in a relatively isolated community, similar to the turn-of-the-century immigrants, and work primarily among same-language peers doing jobs that Americans refuse.
A limited number of free adult English classes are available. Transportation and work schedules are barriers, yet our classes are full because people want to learn. I'm so grateful to be able to teach them.

This is a straw man argument. Those that come here legally do assimilate. Those that do not come legally have no reason to. The only people they associate with are from their culture.

You want assimilation? Require everyone to come here legally.

Maybe we should just end immigration.

Maybe the best way is to require every young person 18 years of age to serve two years for this country. That could be in the Armed Forces, in a Civilian Concervation Type program, but at least work for the Nation. All could go through a rigorous 16 weeks of training and learning and then go and serve. You want to learn to love her, sacrifice for her. Give some sweat and blood.

Why are they not learning English:
1) They don't want to.
2) We don't expect it of them.
The same goes for naturalization. Some groups simply have a stronger allegiance to their home country. For example, President Calderon makes speeches HERE reinforcing the point that they are still Mexicans. His Consulado Movil program is calculated to service them as Mexican citizens.
Ethnic enclaves make learning English unnecessary.
Only when WE foot the bill do they learn English, and that is primarily a service to the youth.

My parents had WAITED IN LINE for many years, to legally immigrate to the USA. In their 50's they struggled with their survival English while raising 5 children. The kids (including myself who spoke a few words in English), worked our butts off to become proficient in the English language. As a result we all attended college, the grandchildren also, with numerous advanced degrees in my parents life time.

To pay our respect for the privileges given freely by this country, and economically support ourselves, Mom and Dad "required" that we spoke fluent English; in addition to our native language. We became contributing Americans.