Who is concerned about people not learning English in the U.S.?

Question

I'm thinking we should put together a not-for-profit service offering free English courses to immigrants & foreigners residing in the U.S. Anyone want to help? With all the people upset about foreigners not speaking English, I'm sure there are many of you who will want to help solve this immense problem by contributing your time and money to the cause. So how would you like to contribute, with your time or with money?

Or are there already massive efforts being made to educate foreigners who can't afford English classes on their own? I haven't heard about it, but certainly some of the megachurches are already contributing to the social welfare of immigrants by helping them acquire English. Perhaps they provide transportation to & from classes as many immigrants can't afford their own cars.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps Christians think immigrants should figure out how to learn English on their own. If that's the case, we the people will have to step in. Who wants to help?

To Andreea: You're very concerned, and you expect them to learn the language, but you're not willing to help out? How exactly do you expect them to learn the language if they don't have English classes to go to?

Answer 1

I think you have a fabulous idea. In fact, I am already aware of a few community organizations and churches in my area that are offering free and low-cost English classes. In fact, I teach a free English class at my church once a week. However, in my experience, what you pay for is what you get. When volunteers are teaching English and their only qualification is that English is their native language, the type of instruction they provide may or may not be very helpful to the students in the class. Therefore, it seems to me that any volunteer effort like the one you are organizing should start with administrators/teacher educators who are able to train people the best ways to teach language, so that the classes are actually effective for the students. People with training want to be paid, so perhaps it would be a good idea for you to look into starting a non-profit that does take in some money. Any money that the students don't pay could be provided by grant money, for example. Of course, that means that the administrators would have to be expert grantwriters as well.

In fact, I think that any program of this type should include two arms, one for people who are literate in their native languages and one for people who are not literate in their native languages, since these two types of learners have very different needs and styles of language acquisition.

In addition, another problem is getting people to come to the class. No matter how good the class is, there are three major problems with getting students. (1) It's very difficult to advertise the English classes to the target population, because they are hard to reach. Illegal immigrants, especially, are difficult to reach through many traditional means. (2) Even if the people know about the classes, they might not want to come. Illegal immigrants don't often dare to leave their houses at all, even if it is for a wonderful program that can help them to meet their economic goals. (3) The target population may not be able to come when the classes are offered. Immigrants that I know often work long and odd hours just to put food in the mouths of their families. They might just not have time to come to classes such as these. In addition, day care is also an issue.

I hope this has given you some good ideas. I sincerely hope that you do start a program like this. I know many immigrants who want to learn English desperately and just don't have the resources to attend classes. I think a successful program of the type you are suggesting would serve as a great model all over the United States.

Just so you know, there is actually a professional organization that deals with English-language teaching all over the world. It's called TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). I recommend that you check out the resources TESOL can provide. The website is www.tesol.org.

Answer 2

People can speak whatever language they like, or invent one if they choose. The idiotic notion that governments can dictate what language is spoken is worthy of Josef Stalin.

There are communities where some people don't speak English at all - the Amish in the US, or towns that speak only Russian in Canada. (Remember the X-Files episode "Tunguska" that supposedly happened in Russia? That was filmed in a British Columbian town.)

Governments can choose to do business in one or a few languages. Financially, it makes sense to have books in English (or French, in Canada) and a few translators to help the public. But for Americans to try and make it illegal to perform any business in Spanish or other languages is idiotic xenophobia.

Thirty million Spanish speakers in the US isn't a problem, it's an asset. There are 500 million Spanish speakers in Latin America and South America to do business with. Only an American would see it as a problem.

Answer 3

I lived in a international nation for a even as. When I used to be there I lived within the Community. I located that I would no longer get what I desired and wanted with out the elemental qualification of understanding the language. Communication is elementary in existence. We be trained it from the second we're born after we cry. From then on, it is both be trained to talk the language or perish. There are a pleasant many societies inside societies right here within the United States. That is, there are lots of groups that internally talk one other language, whether or not it's Spanish, Italian, Latvian, or every other. The elders locally talk simplest that language, they have not troubled to be trained English. The kids be trained to talk English and they're in charge for the renovation of the group since they do talk English and, as a consequence, understand how to preserve the group. Here's an illustration of non-English talking trade: The Chinese are speedily purchasing up condo houses on this nation. They purchase, after which while renovation is wanted at the estate, the tenants can not converse the demands for fix. It's like speakme to a brick wall while looking to converse the demands. Then, perhaps, they're going to get anybody to translate for them, and probably, get the renovation performed. No promises. Communication....it is the simplest solution to get matters performed. It's no longer imperative to talk rather then your possess language for the nation you're residing in, until you cross somewhere else, after which, it's crucial to be trained that language with the intention to care for your self. When I lived international, despite the fact that that nation is bi-lingual and English is taught as a moment language from the time they're babies, the adults could no longer talk to you in English, it used to be such as you didn't exist, despite the fact that they understood flawlessly what you wanted whilst you requested. I needed to be trained the language or perish. Simple as that!

Answer 4

I am concerned, because there are more people that speak other language besides English than the English speaking people, and thats just not right since English is supposed to be the Language they speak in the U.S.

Answer 5

It sounds like a decent enough idea to me. Personally, I don't mind immigrants when they follow the proper procedure to become an American citizen. I'm not asking them never to speak their native language again, only that they learn to speak the official language of our country to the point where they can function in our society.

Answer 6

I'm very concerned that people come to the U.S. expecting us to chance everything for them. I think anyone who wants to live here needs to learn the language.

Answer 7

Maybe you should worry about the people within the U.S. who claim to speak English but slaughter the language horribly first.

Answer 8

I am not concerned about it at all, but then again that could be because I already speak Spanish so it doesn't bother me