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  1. #1
    Senior Member AlturaCt's Avatar
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    Non-English speakers face added challenges

    Luis Bañuelos didn't speak a word of English five years ago when he moved to Modesto from Nayarit, a state on Mexico's west coast. He still doesn't speak English, and he's not trying to learn.

    "I haven't really needed to learn English since there are so many (Spanish-speaking) Latinos already here in this country," Bañuelos, 25, said in Spanish. "I mostly stay in my own neighborhood so I won't get stuck in a situation where they only speak English."

    Whenever that happens, Bañuelos runs "to find someone who can translate for me."

    He's not alone. Nearly one in five Stanislaus County residents do not speak English very well or at all. And about two in five residents speak a foreign language in their homes.

    The percent of non-English speakers is even higher in Merced and San Joaquin counties, according to justreleased data from the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey.

    And their ranks are growing throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

    Finding good jobs and making ends meet in the valley is tricky enough for those who speak English. But non-English speakers face many added challenges.

    Still, many make do.

    Bañuelos usually turns to his wife, Carmen, who speaks English well enough to get through obstacles such as filling out job applications or health insurance forms.

    While at work at a Byron plumbing company, he said there's always a foreman who speaks some Spanish.

    "Even when they can't talk to me in Spanish, I follow their gestures and body movement to understand what they are asking me to do," Bañuelos explained. "But the other workers there are also Latino, so we all get through it, helping each other out."

    Many adults also rely on their bilingual children to translate for them.

    That's what Gabriel Rodríguez of Manteca does. He came to the United States 19 years ago from Guadalajara, Mexico, but he hasn't learned his new country's primary language.

    "I wish I'd speak English, but I never made the time to go to school and take any classes," Rodríguez, 59, said in Spanish. "If I need to have a paper read for me or make a phone call, I'll ask one of my children to do it for me. They went to school here, so they can interpret for me, and I just have to trust that they are telling the right things."

    Bilingual workers in demand

    But sometimes a child's translation isn't good enough. That's why many government and health care agencies — and increasing numbers of private businesses — hire professional translators or bilingual staff members.

    In Stanislaus County Superior Court, for instance, it's common to see a translator leaning over the shoulder of a defendant or sitting nearby as a witness testifies.

    Translators repeat every question, objection and ruling from the judge. They are required in criminal cases and often are used in juvenile cases for the parents' benefit.

    Those interpreters don't come cheap.

    Last year, the Stanislaus court spent $643,000 for five full-time translators, two freelancers who get steady work and several others who are called as needed.

    "We have pretty standard, steady use for Vietnamese, Hmong, Laotian, Assyrian, Portuguese and American Sign Language, but our major increases have been in Spanish," said Don Lundy, the court's executive officer.

    Children get special instruction

    Public schools also dedicate considerable financial resources and time to accommodate non-English speakers.

    Nearly one-quarter of Stanislaus County's students are classified as "English language learners."

    Because of that, new teachers must have a specialized credential that lets them work with students who are learning English. And those youngsters get special instruction.

    "Every day, we must have English language development," said Patricia Portwood, director of elementary education for Modesto City Schools. "That's 30minutes of our day, specifically designated to the teaching of English."

    Private businesses, meanwhile, are investing in bilingual employees to help serve nonEnglish-speaking customers. Many companies recruit those who can speak English along with another language, particularly Spanish.

    Help-wanted ads in Sunday's Bee, for instance, included a preference for bilingual applicants for jobs in nursing, realty, lending, sales, law and journalism.

    Having someone who can speak her language is key to getting María Angela Ruiz as a customer.

    Ruiz, 42, came to Modesto from Michoacán, Mexico, in 2000.

    "I am lucky when I make a phone call to a company because the majority of them have someone who speaks Spanish. When they don't, I'll try to call another time. That is just how things work," Ruiz said in Spanish. "My husband and I don't speak English and we want to take classes, but we are too tired to go to school after we come home from working in the fields all day."

    Jose Jesus Maga, 63, of Salida is another farm laborer who never has learned English. He, too, said he doesn't have time to go back to school.

    But many immigrants do take English as a second language classes. About 50 of them are doing so this summer at a program offered by El Concilio Council for the Spanish Speaking and Modesto City Schools.

    "Our ESL classes are stepping stones. From there they go to GED (general educational development) classes," said Raul Garcia, El Concilio's site administrator in Modesto. "Our goal is for them to not only learn English, but to empower Latinos in many ways."

    Many obstacles to learning

    Learning English is key to higher-paying jobs, Garcia agreed, but he said it is hard to persuade new immigrants to spend what little spare time they have in class.

    "There are a lot of obstacles. A lot of these folks work two or three jobs," said Garcia. "It isn't the American dream they come here to follow. They come here to work and feed their families."

    Garcia said some U.S. residents resent those who speak foreign languages in public. "Anytime anyone is speaking another language, they see it a threat and unpatriotic."

    But giving up their native tongue is not easy.

    "Spanish is part of our culture and always will be," Garcia said. "It's part of a long, long tradition."

    The good news, Garcia said, is that second-generation Latinos almost all speak English and are bilingual.

    Claudia Martínez of Modesto also wants to be bilingual. That's why the recent immigrant from Michoacán is taking English classes.

    "I know that if you want to have a better future in this country, you have to learn the language," said Martínez, 40. "I have a hard time when I want to take care of my errands, and the company doesn't have anybody that speaks Spanish. It is very frustrating. I don't want to be here and have to depend on someone else to interpret for me."

    Bee staff writers Rosalio Ahumada and Susan Herendeen, photographer Adrian Mendoza and Olivia Ruiz, managing editor of Vida en el Valle, contributed to this report.

    Bee staff writer J.N. Sbranti can be reached at 578-2196 or jnsbranti@modbee.com.

    http://www.modbee.com/local/story/12589 ... 7988c.html
    [b]Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
    - Arnold J. Toynbee

  2. #2
    Senior Member sippy's Avatar
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    "Spanish is part of our culture and always will be," Garcia said. "It's part of a long, long tradition."
    Then go back to wherever you come from, and you can culture your brains out.

    THIS IS AMERICA, ENGLISH IS OUR TRADITION, IT IS A LONG LONG TRADITION ALSO ESTUPIDO!
    "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results is the definition of insanity. " Albert Einstein.

  3. #3
    MW
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    Senior Member MW's Avatar
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    So many people encouraging illegal immigrants and so few people enforcing our laws - it's disgraceful what our country is turning into!

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts athttps://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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