[78-L] speaking english,

[Geoffrey Wheeler]

Fnarf says: “When I was doing extensive newspaper research in places 
like Minnesota and Iowa, I found that the Midwest states up until about 
WWI, and in some cases WWII, had dozens upon dozens of German-language 
newspapers for the many first-generation immigrants who, like all 
first-generation immigrants, struggled with English, or never tried. 
The second gen speaks both; the third gen only English. This has always 
been true. Polish and Norwegian and, ahem, "Bohunk" ones too.


Absolutely!  On my first visit to Europe where I lived for a year, I 
returned to the States on the QEII. Two of my table mates had been 
living in Chicago for more than 20 years and neither spoke English. 
Fortunately, I knew a little German. When I high school, I worked on a 
summer construction crew where everyone was Sicilian and spoke no 
English. At first, it was a case of “me” and “them,” but gradually we 
warmed to one another. My mother asked me why I would want to work with 
people who spoke no English. I told her I expected to learn something 
from the experience.