Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Guest
Do you honestly think all past immigrants came here knowing English? If you were brought up in Amsterdam, or Paris, China, or Rome in the 1800's, it is very unlikely you emigrated to the U.S. knowing English. English is becoming more prevalent in large cities that cater to tourists, but for many immigrants from small villages where there is no English spoken, they will learn English once they get here. As far as their initiative, I would think that giving up your country, your culture, your friends and family to move to a new country in hopes of a better life shows tremendous initiative.
|
Of course not, but from what I've seen in my lifetime within my own family and friends, at least 1 or 2 who immigrated within the family spoke pretty fluent English. These were usually the breadwinners - they came here to be productive citizens and taught the rest of the family how to assimilate by example. These people of whom I speak came from 3 different countries, all from small villages. We are living in different times today - access to learning the language is not as difficult as you make it out to be. I would think a person with such initiative would make learning the language their first priority.