Why immigrant don't learn the language of the host country and try to understand their customs?

Question

To me, it makes sense that if I move to another country, I must learn their language and understand their culture and customs. Not to also follow in them, but to understand the citizens of the country to be able to get along with them.
It really doesn't make sense to come to a country and expect them to learn my language and customs. Thats just ludicrous. But we know who does that the most, don't we?

Answer 1

Yes, it does make sense. However, what gets up my nose is that so many Brits go off to Spain, Portugal, France to start a new life and are totally disgusted that the local authorities and shopkeepers don't understand English - even if you SHOUT! Such Brits are usually the ones who complain most about immigrants not speaking English as soon as they get off the ferry or crawl from under the Euro-Star.

Answer 2

I would agree with you except that your comment does sound racist (last sentence). It's true that people should try to learn the language of the country they emigrate to, even if it's not perfect. Unfortunately, it's not always that easy as people who can't speak the language don't necessarily have the means to learn the language beforehand, and once in the country, they might to be able to afford lessons. What's more, they are often parked together, which really doesn't help them to learn about the culture of their new country or its language. Don't oversimplify: life is not a Hollywood film!

Answer 3

I recall a debate on the provision of health care and social services in Spanish in USA. One politician was adamant that this was wrong and that only English should be spoken. At the core of his argument was:
'If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us."

In case you missed the point, English as we know it didn't exist until the 15th century. Jesus was around 1400 years before that.

It isn't clear to me where you learnt English, but I suspect you were sitting up the back or outside the principal's office while it was being taught.

It is possible to keep abreast of a country's affairs even if you are not fluent in the language. I travel to Japan once a year, but I'm no expert at the language and I still manage.

As for customs, which ones? There would be very few countries that have a small list of customs that could be carried on a handy pocket-sized card for reference. There is already diversity in the people who live in the country without being concerned about anyone from outside. How many of your follow countrymen follow all of your customs?

Answer 4

I agree with your sentiments. I presume, from your Yahooname that you're Algerian and am aware that, even now, many years after independence, there are many French people living in North Africa who don't make any attempt to learn Arabic.

Unfortunately, it's always been like that - when you have a colonial power, the occupiers have little regard for the language of the indigenous people. When the Romans invaded Britain in the first century AD, I doubt if many of them tried to learn any of the Celtic languages spoken here, just as today, the Chinese in Tibet don't bother to learn Tibetan.

Incidentally, Berber, not Arabic, is the original language of Algeria. Do you speak Berber ?

Answer 5

i think i quite agree with you, every country has the right to protect their heritage, so in a way if one decides to migrate to another country whether willingly or unwillingly i think efforts should be made to adapt a bit to the host country's way of living (although it is also important as well not to forget where you come from) however the host country also have every right to protect their culture and customs.

believe me no one wants to see their country's culture & customs changed( do to other as you want them to do to you) although adaptation and acknowledgement to other culture is okay as every country is a neigbour and also we are all citizens of the earth. the saying when you go to 'Roman you do what the Romans do ' in this case the host country must also do their bit to help the migrants settle in to enable them to get along

Answer 6

Well in the USA we cater to the point that now all instruction manuals are as thick as phonebooks.

There is no pressure to learn the language so why bother?

Answer 7

Have some tolerance, who is to say, heaven forbid that you may be forced to flee your country and find refuge in another not knowing the language ect .

Answer 8

Perhaps you should hone your own language skills before you start criticizing anyone else. Your question doesn't make any sense the way it is worded.

Answer 9

Say this about England and people will agree with you..Oh,yes they should learn English and fit in to communities.Say it about people coming into Welsh-speaking communities in Wales,needing to learn Welsh to fit in with the local community and you are branded a racist.There are plenty of coloured people who live here and speak Welsh so race does n't come into it.
One rule for England..another for Wales...Double standards or what?
By the way I do believe people going to live in England should be able to speak English.How else are they going to communicate with others in their new community..they can't expect the locals to learn their language (although English people expect this when they go abroad).Was this what you were referring to?

Answer 10

And if they don't want to? What if they had to go there for some very good reasons, ie.jobs, refugees, etc? They can just show tolerance and acceptance towards others' customs, etc!