Re: Press "1" for English

["(PeteCresswell)" <x@xxxxxxxxx>]

tPer Robert L Bass:
>I disagree.  First of all, children almost invariably learn English in a matter of months.  For example, my two nephews came here
>about 8 years ago.  Neither one spoke more than a few words of English.  The older one graduated from high school four years later
>with high honors.  The younger one graduated with numerous medals for sports, academic and personal achievements.  He was also named
>homecoming king even though he made no effort to "run" for it.  The older boy is now an electrical engineer working for a large, US
>company.  The younger one is studying computer engineering.  Both of them also ran their own PC and network repair business while in
>high school.  Their mother is an English professor but their dad, who still commutes from Brazil twice every month, has more
>difficulty with English.
>
>This family is not very different from most of the Brazilian families I've come to know in Florida.  Parents whose jobs expose them
>to English learn the language in a reasonable time.  Children learn to speak, often without even a trace of their old accent, in a
>short time.  Parents whose work and social circles are limited, whether by choice or happenstance, have greater difficulty.
>
>Where we really differ on this is in your belief that the existence of non-English speaking minorities somehow harms the rest of us.

I would have to agree with your more reasoned argument.

I'd still say, however, that nobody's doing anybody else a favor by encouraging
them to stick with their first language after they've moved to the USA...  But,
in light of the obvious (to me...now...) fact that kids will learn English no
matter what, I guess it's kind of moot.
--
PeteCresswell