When you might as well jump

[Old Hippie]

I have heard that excuse before...funny...er sort of. Bottom line is, in years passed, people who came to the USA became Americans, learned English, and did not demand any special treatment...nowadays, quite the opposite.

[Flashermac]

Don't know how the hell that happened, since immgrants to the US in the '50s and '60 still made learning English a priority.

 

Wonder if immigrants to Oz demand to use their native language. (Not counting the Brits, of course ...)

 

 

[Julian2]

There was some talk of setting language and cultural standards for citizenship applicants but I suppose "permanent residents" can do as they please.

I note though that a few second and even third generation European immigrants still speak Greek or Italian etc at home. A lot of this is because Granny never learned to speak English because she has never associated with English speakers even if the family arrived just after WW2.

 

 

[Flashermac]

My mother is bilingual (English, German). It's because she spent a lot of time with her maternal grandparents, who spoke German at home. However, they were fully fluent in English as well. (Spoke Hungarian too.) Nothing wrong with keeping the old language - as long as you learn the new one and use it in public!