wouldn't it be shameful for someone whos parents were born in a french speaking country and they know how to speak french, but the child was born in america and only knows how to speak english??
whos fault would it be that the child doesn't know french?
would it be the parents fault, or the childs fault?
2007-12-22 06:33:19 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
Why do you care how the parent decides to raise his/her child? While I do agree with another answer that commented on the wonderful bilingual opportunity being lost, I'd be more concerned with the overall child's well-being. Is he/she being properly cared for? Food? Shelter? Love?
The parent may have his or her private reasons for not introducing French. This happens all over the world though. I have several students whose parents speak their native language, but they cannot speak it. In hindsight, yes, it is a shame. But don't dwell on it.
2007-12-22 08:08:45 · answer #1 · answered by Sharon F 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not the child's fault. Actually something like that happened with my family. When I was younger I lived close to all of my family and so I learned to speak Portuguese, Spanish and English (in that order). I now speak all of them fluently. However, after my brother was born my dad's job transferred him to Colorado where we knew noone and had no family. He was also traveling for work (often for a month or 2 at a time). So it was just my mom, me (age 12) and a baby. She decided to teach him English because:
1-she didn't have the support from family and was all by herself
2-She felt that if she ever had to leave her son in a daycare type situation (which I had never been in) it would be best if he could speak English and so that the caretakers would know what he needed.
So sometimes, it happens out of necessity. Now my little brother understands some Portuguese but no Spanish, and he doesn't speak anything besides English. But it was one of those necessary things. It's not his fault at all.
Sometimes you have to take those sorts of things into consideration before getting mad at someone. Perhaps they were just doing what was best for their family. I don't see any shame in that.
If you want the kids to learn French, than maybe you should teach them. Ask the parents' permission first though. It could be a good learning experience for everyone
Also, I would like to say that while I think if the kids have the opportunity to be exposed to and learn mulitple languages than they should, but it can't always happen. ANd it isn't always sensible.
2007-12-23 16:19:49 · answer #2 · answered by sweetjadedtears 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fault is a pretty heavy word here. If the parents decided not to teach the child French, then the child would speak English only. It isn't that big a deal. If you did decide to hold someone at fault, how in the world could you hold the child at fault? The poor kid was the one that needed teaching, not the other way around.
2007-12-22 14:53:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the child doesn't know how to speak french how is that his fault? You have to be taught language. It's about choice if the parents chose not to teach their child their home language, not shame.
2007-12-22 15:59:58 · answer #4 · answered by Teresa H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with you. I don't know if 'shameful' is the word, but a kid learning to speak can learn two or three languages as easily as one. It would be a great advantage these days to be bilingual.
My grandparents were thrown out of Ukraine because they were Jewish. In those days, Jews in Europe were a people apart, they were 'the other'. They spoke a different language, wore different clothes, ate different foods, etc. So when they came here, they wanted to be American, to be mainstream. Consequently we were taught almost nothing of the old country, which I have always thought was a shame.
Americans are so bigoted! You can be American and still be proud of your roots, still speak the language of your grandparents even as a native English speaker. Here in California there are constant proposals to make English the 'official language', but in fact 75% of the children of immigrants speak none of their parents' country's language at all!
I'll tell you something even more shameful. Here in diverse California, I know THREE people who came here from somewhere else, got a job, bought a house, had a kid, and decided not to teach the kid English! They didn't want their kid to be AMERICAN! They say they will teach him English when he needs it to go to school. One from Korea, one from China, one from India. -THAT- is shameful. Not because there's anything wrong with being Korean, Chinese or Indian, or speaking those languages, but because the kid only has one chance to be a -native- English speaker, and that would be a great advantage to the kid no matter what nationality he is, no matter where in the world he lives.
(BTW, the Chinese example is my computer guru, a very intelligent and talented man. He didn't want his little boy to be American, so he didn't teach him English. But he homeschooled the boy, so the boy ended up growing up in the computer shop. By the age of three he spoke perfect English, just from his interactions with customers in the shop!)
2007-12-22 14:51:21 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
How can the child be responsible for something that was out of his control. The parents are to blame, 100% for this shameful situation!
If even one parent knows another language it is their duty and their responsibility to teach their child that language, the more languages a person can speak, the better off he or she will be.
ps. I hate when this happens: one parent only know english, the other knows french and english, yet the child is not allowed to speak french, because the parent won't understand! Geez, learn!
2007-12-22 14:38:40 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
How would it be shameful? Maybe the parents wanted to get away from France because of something horrible that happened there. Also, last time I checked the language here in America is English.
2007-12-23 02:55:45 · answer #7 · answered by Steven R 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a shame that the parents would not use this wonderful opportunity to teach their children their mother tongue but certainly not shameful.
It's the parents fault, but I can think of worse things that they could do with respect to their children's education.
2007-12-22 14:42:58 · answer #8 · answered by Lyn 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No one's fault. There are plenty of parents born in their native counties and move to other countries and never teach their children their native language. My grandmother was from Sicily and she never taught her children Sicilian. Happens all the time.
2007-12-22 14:39:12 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
If the parents knew only French, then that's the language they would teach their children.
2007-12-22 15:06:12 · answer #10 · answered by sweetgurl13069 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋