OT I agree 100 percent!

In the past somehow they seemed to have acclimated without the overwhelming help we give them today. My opinion is they do better if they do it on their own. If they want to come to America they have to learn english. Under adversity humans flourish even more.

My mother at 91 still speaks fluent Polish, especially when she is angry, then you better watch out, LOL.

There are quite a few around.

Fecking pussy LIEbrawls. HOPING just doesn't cut it. In as similar vein, here in Canada, it should be MANDATORY for immigrants to be reasonably functional, in reading, writing and speaking either French or English....Canada's 2 official language. NOTE: here in Canada, Hindi, Cantonese, Mandarin etc are NOT official languages.

AArgh...that sounds too LIEbrawl!!

Well, EdV, that is might white of you.

No doubt, you would hobble home afterwards and wack your tiny tack? ROFL.

I used to have an ORAL French course in Grade 9. Not written, not....but ORAL. Heh, back then the joke was lost.

What do you think happens to us English speakers when we travel to a whole LOT of countries? It is OUR responsibility to make ourselves understood, NOT the responsibility of ANYONE else in the country that we are visiting...or otherwise newly arrived in. YOU LIEbrawls always try to make YOUR problem, the problem of everyone ELSE. You LIEbrawls should brush up on taking PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for yourselves.

cmere and say that to my face....

That isn't the nature of liberals. They need victims...

As an older adult, my father (half German) started wishing that he'd paid more attention to his grandparents' use of German when he was little, instead of blowing it off. He had absorbed a smattering of it, but wasn't fluent. So... he took a course in German when in his mid-60's, before my parents went to Germany for a vacation; that did bring him up to speed - enough to be able to carry on conversations while in Germany.

Just 10 -12 years ago I used to go to a Polish bakery where I was sometimes the only one who spoke/ordered in English. In those instances I was also youngest one (mid- 40's) there, & the other customers tended to be one generation older. *However*, this doesn't automatically infer that the older generation *couldn't* speak English, only that they preferred to use Polish when among others of their own generation & country of origin. Perhaps they spoke English in other venues, perhaps they didn't... Prob. some did, some didn't. I never asked; I just purchased yummy baked goods. ;-)

Cathy

The means by which one gets help now is not the same as it once was. Plus all of the red tape to wade though. Wading through it in a native language would be difficult enough, w/o the added burden of not knowing the language yet.

My opinion is they do better if

I never said they shouldn't. But there *is* a learning curve involved. One doesn't step onto US soil & miraculously become fluent in the first week!

Something tells me that many of these people are already well-acquainted with adversity, hence their move to the U.S.

Cathy

Official Language is totally different from having other languages in an ATM.

. NOTE: here in Canada, Hindi,

You really should break down & do something with that Caps Lock key - it seems to have a long-standing sticking problem.

Cathy

"sharx35"

Natalie

Personally, I think the poor woman barely manages to tread water.

Cathy

'oral' work?

Sounds like you're a bit light on your knowledge of speech development vs. age.