"They Made Them Speak English Only at Home"

[Unkotare]

In another thread someone actually made this (false) claim in one of those "immigrants used to be good, but now they scare me" posts.

Are there still people out there who even think such an approach would be a good idea?

 

[The Irish Ram]

Yeah, Germans.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

There are far too many hateful bigots who believe such rot.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Yeah, Germans.

And this would be one of those hateful bigots.

 

[The Irish Ram]

Shut up.

Oh look!! A Germany full of bigots, protesting the flood of immigrants, and the violence that accompanies them:

They get it, you don't. Lovely night tonight in NY, NJ. MN. and DC, don't ya think?
Get it yet?

 

[Vastator]

There are far too many ignorant morons who can't recognize what they see before thier very eyes.

 

[Weatherman2020]

I thought this was a thread about my great grandparents.

 

[Unkotare]

Yeah, Germans.

Yeah Germans what?

 

[Unkotare]

There are far too many ignorant morons who can't recognize what they see before thier very eyes.

You can at least try to improve.

 

[Vastator]

Germans sind wutend.

 

[Unkotare]

So, anyway, the thread is about outdated, mistaken notions about how immigrant children acquire English, and what role the family dynamic plays in this process.

 

[Vastator]

There are far too many ignorant morons who can't recognize what they see before thier very eyes.

You can at least try to improve.

 

[The Irish Ram]

So, anyway, the thread is about outdated, mistaken notions about how immigrant children acquire English, and what role the family dynamic plays in this process.

How incredibly ignorant. Every one of those kids could speak their parent's language, but spoke English in the home so their parents could learn the language of their new homeland. They wanted to be considered Americans. English is our language. Anybody living here should learn to speak it. Those parents must have done something right. Their children became the greatest generation to live on this earth.

Your method produces whiny, fragile little cream puffs that need safey rooms to prevent being offended. Yeah, that dynamic is working out great.

 

[Unkotare]

So, anyway, the thread is about outdated, mistaken notions about how immigrant children acquire English, and what role the family dynamic plays in this process.

How incredibly ignorant. Every one of those kids could speak their parent's language, but spoke English in the home so their parents could learn the language of their new homeland. .....

You are mistaken in several ways.

 

[The Irish Ram]

No, I am not. Greatest generation vs cream puffs. Those parents raised the greatest generation, you raised snowflakes with your, "I have the right to never be offended. I saw chalk, quick, get the smelling salts" generation. Your marshmallows can't hold a candle to the ones whose parents had them speak English when they got here, which for some stupid reason you consider cruel. Your kids don't even know how to write.
Thank God for the generation that saved the world from Hitler. Your generation would have flown him here and pinned medals on his chest for the fundamental change he was bringing to Europe....

Why the need to start a new thread, instead of finishing the one you referenced in this thread? Now you have 2 threads that you can't win.

 

[Unkotare]

...... you raised snowflakes with your, "I have the right to never be offended. I saw chalk, quick, get the smelling salts" generation. .....

??????????????????


What the hell are you talking about?

 

[Unkotare]

...the ones whose parents had them speak English when they got here......

They didn't. That's a myth. The process of language acquisition and generational family dynamic throughout assimilation is essentially the same today as it has always been.

 

[The Irish Ram]

They sure as hell did. My father grew up with those kids. I grew up with their grandkids. I knew those very people we are discussing very well. One of those children whose parents insisted he speak English became our Russian language teacher in high school. Bi lingual, war hero, college honor grad, whose parents never took a dime in Gov. assistance. They got it right. You don't know what you are talking about. Just like you didn't get, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, or Alexander Graham Bell. You are out of your league here. Quit while you are ahead.

 

[Unkotare]

They sure as hell did. .....

Nope. Some few anomalous cases aside, the fairy tale of "you shall not speak Italian in this house!" from parents who spoke only Italian themselves (for example) did not - of course - happen. The inevitable success of the children or second generation in acquiring English became, over time, part of a family myth clung to by generations far removed. Young children who came here/come here eventually and inevitably learned English. The parents, depending on their age, circumstances, and prior education will eventually acquire English to an extent, but not often full fluency. If the family arrives with grandparents, they usually say "screw it" and rely on their grandchildren for interpretation. By a second generation, fluency is almost always achieved (then as now), and by the third most speak English only at home as a matter of course.

 

[Unkotare]

Not only is "Thou shalt speak English only at home, even though we don't speak English ourselves!" a myth, research has proven that attempts at transitioning from the home language to English-only before the child has achieved significant acquisition of the L1 actually hinders the child's acquisition of English, hampering them throughout their education.

It's all much ado about nothing anyway, as the much more common concern for immigrant parents is that their (eventual) teenagers don't want to talk to them at home in the family's heritage language. Now as then.