The Language Barrier
A recent news article spoke of an increase in injuries and deaths of recent Spanish-speaking immigrants in the construction industry. Safety is not being taught to these immigrants because most foremen do not speak Spanish. An attempt was made to remedy the situation by printing safety manuals in Spanish only to discover that, though the immigrants speak Spanish, many can not read Spanish.
Up until about 50 years ago, immigrants coming to the United States and wanting to live and work here, made it a point to learn English which was the predominant language spoken by most Americans. They didn't give up their cultural identities or language, just learned and used English to better be able to function socially and at work in this country.
With the influx of Spanish speaking immigrants, this has all changed. Now it seems that Americans are expected to learn Spanish so that Spanish speaking immigrants don't have to bother to learn English. Many government documents have to be written in English and Spanish. Many government offices are required to hire bi-lingual individuals to work the "front desk" for the sake of Spanish speaking immigrants.
It is time that immigrants stop expecting American citizens to patronize them and instead make the effort to learn what is the common language in the United States. After all, if I, an American citizen, decided to move to Germany to live and work, I would expect to have to learn German as opposed to expecting German citizens to all learn English for my benefit.
It is time that immigrants, coming to the US to make it their home, take the time to learn English, the common language spoken by over 200 million former immigrants to this country.
03/26/02 ( 322 )
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