33 languages ... that's what the sign said for the California written driver's test. And when I began my test, there was a long list of options from which to choose.
I thought: How comforting to tens of thousands of first-generation immigrants who are working hard, making a living, supporting a family, and building a life for themselves. They need to drive, and there's no sense making life more difficult for people who are offering a solid contribution to the wellbeing of California.
I thought of those who are all fussy and fidgety about "speaking English." How silly of them.
If the history of immigrants shows us anything, it's this: first generation immigrants cling to their native tongue. That was true with Germans, Swedes and Norwegians, and if they were Lutheran, they worshipped in their native tongue for several generations, until English won the day.
By the second, and for the sure, the third generation, English is spoken, and the native tongue retained only by Gramma and Grampa, or the few cuss words that get handed down for a few more generations.
That's true for the Italians, the Poles, the Russians, the Chinese and the Japanese, and every other tongue that's come to America.
Some advice to those who abuse folks who have a tongue other than English, or at least can speak English only haltingly, take a breath. Your ancestors, if from anywhere other than the English Isles, went through the same process.
With all our immigrants, we're a bigger and better nation, and those of us who speak English owe some kindness and understanding to our neighbors. Is this too much to ask? I don't think so.
Yup. 33 languages. For me, a wonderful thing.
1 comment:
A few years ago, I was practicing my Spanish with a group of coffee drinking buddies at a local McDonalds here in Holland, MI. One of the guys with a very Dutch last name, called me out on it, saying, "Hey, we speak American around here." I suppose if you ask someone from England, if we, in America, speak American instead of English, that person might be inclined to agree. However, my Dutch-American friend apparently didn't know how long his Dutch forebearers in the area resisted learning the English language. In fact, up until quite recently, it was spoken in worship at a couple of ultra-conservative Dutch congregations. As if that isn't bad enough, a Dutch-American told me that his mother quit going to
church when the congregation stopped using Frisian let alone Dutch.
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