Some never adopt English as second language
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cct ... 184957.htm
Posted on Sat, Mar. 25, 2006
Some never adopt English as second language
By Nathaniel Hoffman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Alicia Alvarado presses two for Spanish.
Nearly everything the 44-year-old janitor needs can be had in her mother tongue. She shops in Spanish, files police reports, talks to nurses and teachers and voice-mail systems. For 17 years, Alvarado has lived in a Spanish-speaking world, first in Los Angeles and now in Concord's Monument Corridor.
Her continued monolingualism stems from cultural pride, a hectic life and the challenge of studying a foreign language.
"We don't want to lose our roots," she says.
Then, she blushes and adds, "when I first moved (to Concord), I was ashamed to attend English classes."
More than 100,000 people in Contra Costa County speak English less than "very well," according to a 2004 Census survey. Most of them speak Spanish, but many speak Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, Russian and French.
About 10 percent of the households in the Bay Area are considered "linguistically isolated" with no adults speaking English proficiently.
But that does not necessarily mean they are totally isolated.
Eighty percent of the customers at the busy El Molino Tortilla Factory in Concord are Spanish speakers, says owner Santiago Morales. Dozens of businesses up and down Monument Boulevard cater to Spanish speaking customers. Spanish is heard on every corner. Alvarado says she can get everything she needs without having to speak English.
And in Chinatowns, Koreatowns and Little Italys across the Bay, a melange of global consonants and vowels accompany their corresponding foods, art and culture.
"In this 21st century, we celebrate diversity, we recognize diversity," said Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco. "We're saying, 'you're in America, it's important to learn English, but it's also important to preserve that culture that you came from.'"
Yee said his mother, who has lived in the United States for 50 years, would have a richer life if she could read English newspapers and communicate better outside of Chinatown. Yee decries the shortage of English-as-a-second-language classes, but he also champions policies to provide more translators and promote multiculturalism.
The seemingly contradictory message of promoting both assimilation and multiculturalism hurts immigrants, says one researcher at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
"I don't think it's a coherent message," said Jose Enrique Idler, a national research initiative fellow at the institute. "We encourage you to become part of us, but we want to encourage you to speak your language."
Immigrants should learn English so they can participate more in the political life of the nation, said Idler, who was born in Venezuela.
"Unless you speak the language, at some point, you're going to hit a ceiling," he said.
Alvarado, a janitor who cleans office buildings at night, knows about the ceilings.
A few years ago, she tried to get a day job at a senior center but was rebuffed because she couldn't speak English.
Now, her teenage son makes her change the radio station from her cumbias to his hip hop when she picks him up from school.
"When I say a word (in English), they laugh at me," she said.
Then, there was the time she thought an English teacher was treating her son unfairly and she was powerless to defend him.
"In that moment, I wished I could speak English because someone was mistreating my children," she said.
When Alvarado signed up for English classes eight years ago, she was embarrassed to speak up in class and soon dropped out. But immigrants are learning English faster than adult education systems can handle them.
"At any given time, we could probably serve another 400 to 500 people if we had the space," said Rosemary Slavin, ESL family literacy coordinator for Mt. Diablo Adult Education in Concord.
Within the Mt. Diablo School District last year, 4,000 adults took the free English classes, and every session hundreds of people are put on waiting lists.
"These are adults with very, very demanding lives," Slavin said. "They have families, they may or may not have baby sitters, they work at several jobs."
The children of immigrants are as comfortable in English as in their parents' tongues.
"The young people, they all can speak English," said Joanna Huang, a clerk at Wah Hang Market in Oakland Chinatown, another neighborhood where English is rare.
The majority of older shoppers on a weekday morning along Ninth Street throw their hands up in response to questions from a reporter.
Helen Tang, of San Leandro, was picking up produce while her Chinese-speaking parents went to see a bilingual doctor in Chinatown.
"They work for Chinese people, and when they go to another store where they don't speak Chinese, they bring us with them," Tang said.
Bilingualism is increasingly important for English-speakers as well, particularly in business.
"This is the first time in America, at least in recent years, where commerce is difficult if you are not at least bilingual," said Molly Clark, executive director of Monument Futures, an economic development center that mainly works with Concord's immigrant population.
Clark, who is studying Spanish, said being surrounded by many languages poses some challenges, but it is nothing new.
"It forces us all to be a little more cosmopolitan, but it is complicated and adds expense and makes it more difficult for people to talk to each other."
"I grew up in Ohio and there were still German speaking communities when I grew up. And I didn't grow up in the 1860s."
Places such as the Monument Corridor and Chinatown help new immigrants settle and adapt to life in America.
"You do have these kind of permanent foreign language enclaves," said Hans Johnson, demographer at the Public Policy Institute of California. "Those tend to be places that tend to receive new immigrants."
The Oakland Public Library's Asian Branch in the heart of Chinatown is the most used library in the system. Seniors and new immigrants go there to read Chinese papers and get help reading their bills.
"There's no way to learn English," said Victor Siu, a retired grocer who speaks Cantonese and Spanish, but said he is too old to study English.
While Spanish, Chinese and dozens of other languages appear to be thriving in the United States, English does not face the slightest threat, language experts agree.
Still, some residents feel threatened by the infusion of Spanish in changing neighborhoods such as Concord's Monument Corridor.
"Why don't they speak English?" is an oft-heard refrain from people uncomfortable with the growing Latino population.
One southern California town is considering a proposal to require business signs to be primarily in English. A movement to make English the official language has lobbied Congress for years.
"The world is changing for them and it's hard for them to accept those changes," said Yee, who is also a psychologist.
"I understand how these individuals feel. The reality, however, is that is America - America was made of immigrants who came with all different languages and customs and cultures."
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Nathaniel Hoffman covers immigration and demographics for the Times. Reach him at 925-943-8345 or nhoffman@cctimes.com.
Re: Some never adopt English as second language
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian503a
Then, she blushes and adds, "when I first moved (to Concord), I was ashamed to attend English classes."
Gee what a typical attitude. Yes, to them it's SHAMEFUL to speak English in America.
One southern California town is considering a proposal to require business signs to be primarily in English. A movement to make English the official language has lobbied Congress for years.
"The world is changing for them and it's hard for them to accept those changes," said Yee, who is also a psychologist.
"I understand how these individuals feel. The reality, however, is that is America - America was made of immigrants who came with all different languages and customs and cultures."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nathaniel Hoffman covers immigration and demographics for the Times. Reach him at 925-943-8345 or
nhoffman@cctimes.com.
