At breakfast I heard two women having a conversation in English. Both had heavy accents. They would occasionally lapse into Spanish. It made me sad, not that they were speaking in Spanish but that they were probably losing their skills in Spanish without picking up English. I see this in the students at school. They claim to speak Spanish but it is a street Spanish that is missing key words. At the same time they are not learning to express themselves well in English. It is a tragedy.
I have an American dream for them, for every immigrant. I want them to live the American dream and it will not be possible without English. I want them to be able to develop their potential and be ready when opportunity knocks at their door. Spanglish won’t cut it.
I can dream, can’t I?
homo unius libri
And then there's Ebonics. (We don't hear the name anymore, but the unintelligible word usage is still around (Jive?).
ReplyDeleteThe concept of Ebonics has been translated to the social media. Think of the terms that have become a part of our culture: LOL, OMG, dis, etc.
DeleteEnglish is an evolving language and evolution is painful.
Grace and peace.
A very fine viewpoint. I truly don't understand why our English isn't required for assimilation into our society. Different languages spoken within my hearing, make me feelI've been plucke up and set down some place "across the waters". Like Babel. ??
ReplyDeleteIf my memory serves me correctly the purpose of Babel was to confuse and divide the people as they thought they could challenge God.
DeleteGrace and peace