Just had a thought. Today I happened to overhear a co-worker assisting a Hispanic/Latino/Mexican customer. (I never know what politically correct term to use.) My town is primarily white middle class and in the past several years we have an increasing population of folks from Mexico. The CSR (customer service rep) was speaking in Spanish to the customer when I came in from lunch and this question popped into my mind:
Are we doing Mexican immigrants a disservice by not making them learn the language so they can communicate effectively? I have several Mexican families that I’ve gotten to know and they’re wonderful, friendly people. They can speak extremely limited English and can read English in a limited manner, also. If they don’t have their kids (who can speak fluent English) with them or a CSR doesn't speak Spanish, they can’t do business in most cases. I feel they are making it hard on themselves, because these customers can understand English, but they cannot communicate effectively. This brought a second question, which carries over to our schools:
All children deserve to be educated, but do they deserve to be educated in a language other than the national language of the country? Are we doing them a disservice to them, too, by not requiring them to learn the language of our country in order to receive education?
If you’re a racist, please don’t clutter up the thread, the mods will knock you down to size with the banhammer anyway, so might as well not waste space.
Discuss and post any possible creative solutions that come to mind.
Are we doing Mexican immigrants a disservice by not making them learn the language so they can communicate effectively? I have several Mexican families that I’ve gotten to know and they’re wonderful, friendly people. They can speak extremely limited English and can read English in a limited manner, also. If they don’t have their kids (who can speak fluent English) with them or a CSR doesn't speak Spanish, they can’t do business in most cases. I feel they are making it hard on themselves, because these customers can understand English, but they cannot communicate effectively. This brought a second question, which carries over to our schools:
All children deserve to be educated, but do they deserve to be educated in a language other than the national language of the country? Are we doing them a disservice to them, too, by not requiring them to learn the language of our country in order to receive education?
If you’re a racist, please don’t clutter up the thread, the mods will knock you down to size with the banhammer anyway, so might as well not waste space.
Discuss and post any possible creative solutions that come to mind.