Author | Message |
2nd generation should learn to speak their parents' language just as well as English. Hi, I want to discuss this because all second generation immigrants of the US I have encountered so far do not speak their parents language fluently, and they say to me "you are lucky you speak the same language as your parents, I never get to have really deep conversations with my parents because of the language barrier" And yet they still don't take lessons or take time to study to be more fluent in their parents' language. Why say that you are sad because you don't speak the same language as your parents, and NOT try your hardest to learn the language more in a in-depth way? (most of the ones I met have speaking level of a 6 year old). Do it while your parents are alive.. Is it laziness? Or is it something more deeper than that. Perhaps 2nd generation people subconsciously don't want to be fluent in their parents' mother language because they grew up being taught and guided that they are AMERICANS, and Americans speak English (-by their immigrant parents, ironically.) [Edited 10/26/14 3:07am] | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
If 2n generation folks are ignoring their parents' language just because of some misplaced inferiority complex, then I pity them, their (lack of) strenght of character and their poor vision, since many immigrants speak Spanish and Chinese, hardly irrelevant languages, right?
| |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
in most of the cases i've come in contact with, its the parents who don't want the kids speakin their native tounge. those who say they wish they could speak it must be in their thirties and stayed away from home for years. those i know who are close to their families don't seem to have that prollum. most folks speak the lancuages they hear on a daily basis, as a matter of fact they tend to speak english and the language of their parents interchangably... i am KING BAD!!!
you are NOT... STOP ME IF YOU HEARD THIS BEFORE... | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
I left my country at age 18 months. I spoke my mother tongue (plus 2 other languages) until I was primary school. For some reason my parents didn't keep speaking it at home any more, so I didn't keep it up. The second language either. So I have english, some swedish and a little german. He's sitting right over there.
I find though that if I'm in sweden or a german speaking country it all comes rushing back. Also watching movies and reading in those languages really helps expand my vocabulary. I'm the mistake you wanna make | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
| |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
It's the natural order of things for the most part. By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory! | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Whoa cool this threads in english | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
irónico, verdad? | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
Im entediado com o Príncipe | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
That's only logical if you think in order to live in America, you have to speak English, which has not been true for centuries. The 1st generation immigrants are usually people who made it in the US without speaking English fluently by either getting a profession that doesn't require a lot of speaking, or living in a certain ethinic town. It's not always the case but from what I've seen, the majority of 2nd generation immigrants have "better" lives than the 1st generation. While 1st generation immigrants are working 12 hours a day 7 days a week (some of them are blue collar workers too), their kids, the 2nd generation get to have the luxury of focusing their time to study, going to college and eventually gettting a better job. So wouldn't they have more time to learn a language than their parents? Also, if the 2nd generation immigrants had your attitude towards their parents, even if they mean well, I would still find that very rude and ungrateful. Think about a 2nd generation immigrant telling their parents, "You're the one who came to America, so you're the one who should learn English, if you wanna talk to me" - The Korean in me would want to slap him/her! lol No 2nd generation immigrants, who understand the sacrifice and the concept behind "American Dream" of their parents would say this though...I assume. [Edited 10/27/14 17:36pm] | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
thanks for your story. But I think in your case, if you were born and raised in America, you would techinically be considered 2nd generation...(but if your parents are not US citizens, you could be considered 1.5 generation perhaps) I am curious though, how would you rate your Spanish fluency? Do you have any trouble communicating with your parents when it's about deeper issues or it requires techinical terms? | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory! | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
In my own family, my father's paternal grandparents came to the US (from Germany) in 1875. They already had children who'd been born in Germany, but my grandfather was born in the United States. So they had a "mixed" generation.
I don't know whether my grandfather spoke much German. I'm sure he must have, but I don't remember him speaking much, at all. (He was a very quiet man.)
[Edited 10/29/14 10:49am] We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves. | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
| |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
That's quite interesting, so do you stil have cousins or famiy members who speak German as first language? And I apologize for not being clear, when I said "First Generation" in all of my posts, I was talking about "First Generation Immigrants", not "First Generation American". So with purplejedi, because he was born in America, I figured his parents had moved to the States and obtained citizenship before having him, which makes them first generation immigrants and purplejedi second generation immigrant.
| |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
JoeTyler said: If 2n generation folks are ignoring their parents' language just because of some misplaced inferiority complex, then I pity them, their (lack of) strenght of character and their poor vision, since many immigrants speak Spanish and Chinese, hardly irrelevant languages, right?
I'm trying to figure out why its an inferiority complex? Why not it be just something people do? Like maybe its just normal human behavior. | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
[Edited 10/30/14 6:54am] We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves. | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
christ, I'm so glad I learned spanish thanks to the (maternal) family of my dad (RIP ), and I TOTALLY REGRET that I didn't (couldn't) learn french (mom and her family are francophone belgians, but she REFUSED to talk to me or my sisters in french back when we were babies-toddlers), to this day I still torment her about that mistake
god, I could/should be speaking in english, spanish and french by now
| |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
By St. Boogar and all the saints at the backside door of Purgatory! | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |
If I grew up in a bilingual house, I know I sure as hell would've taken the benefit of knowing a language that many others don't. Not only does preserve culture (which slowly seems to fading away) but it's also a benefit in the job market. | |
- E-mail - orgNote - Report post to moderator |