Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 21:00:20 -0500 From: "Claudio R. Salvucci" Subject: Re: Immigrants' learning of English > Postscript: On re-reading my post, I realize that I implied that Ellen > Johnson said that new immigrants should "show their gratitude" by > learning English. She was citing Claudio Salvucci, rather, who claimed > (as I recall) that his parents learned English for this reason. Sorry, > Ellen! Uhhh.. that's not what I said. They learned English because they moved here, became Americans, and Americans speak English. What I said about pride was that it was a contributing factor in English acquisition, which it undeniably was and hopefully still is. Saying pride was/is the only factor though, would be pretty dumb. I seem to recall someone wanting some evidence that first gen. immigrants could achieve reasonable competancy in English. My parents' generation did learn English very well after they came here in their mid 20s. They were literate in Italian, but had not studied English whatsoever before coming. -Claudio