Reply to Good reasons for kids to learn heritage language & culture

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The second gen kid I knew told his parents forcing the heritage language that he was American and had no interest in learning their heritage language. His priority was in being an American only.[/quote]

He is. His parent's heritage is foreign to him.[/quote]

I'm the PP here. Yes.  He told his parents he had no interest in speaking their language and that he was an American
and wanted to only speak English since he was an American.  He was a proud American kid.[/quote]

And this is good? Being a “proud American kid” does it preclude him for the enrichment of speaking multiple languages and embracing different cultures? It seems quite ignorant to me.[/quote]

I think you need to chill out. [/quote]

I am calm, but you should open your mind a little.[/quote]

I guess I'm not really sure what your point is. Are you saying that being "multicultural" makes you objectively better than someone who "single cultural" or someone who has lost their culture over the generations or for whatever reason doesn't prioritize maintaining their language/culture?

Some people come to the US and all they want to do is assimilate. But maybe you and your family already look "American" (i.e.) white enough so there's no need to assimilate. Your kids won't have a chip on their shoulder. Maybe you should open your mind up to the experiences of other groups of people.

[/quote]

Not better than others, but better than they would be if they only spoke 1 language and knew nothing of their parents heritage cultures. Or do you think speaking an extra language and embracing another culture is useless?

I am sure some people back in the day wanted to only be American. Thankfully, things have changed and in most places (definitely in the DMV) being bilingual or trilingual is seen as a good thing. Nobody has ever looked down in my kids because they speak 3 languages and spend their summer in Europe (at least not to our face).

OP does a huge disservice to her kids by not teaching them another language and her heritage. She is taking something beautiful and enriching away from her kids. Something that will make them smarter, more self aware, more able to see things in perspective, academic benefits, etc.

You keep referencing race and yes, [b]my kids and I are white and I guess blend in (not even sure what that means nowadays) with the white American kids… so what?[/b] [/quote]

So what?

Not op here but pp, you are the reason white people are often stereotyped as being clueless.
As immigrants, passing as white in the US where no one will question that you belong here, versus a non-white immigrant who will face various struggles to feel like they belong in this country, is a whole different ball game. And yes, sometimes feeling like they belong in america can be more important to these kids development and sense of identity than being multilingual and knowing their parents ancestry.

Mind-boggling, I know.[/quote]

I don’t see this happening in my kids’ schools AT ALL. Plenty of Chinese, Indian, Korean kids… they all celebrate their heritage. There is something called Global studies where they study one different country every year. There is a day where people from other countries are invited to share their heritage, food, costumes, dances, songs, etc. DH and I have done this in preschool and early elementary many times as have done aasian, African, Caribbean parents. My kids are still youngish (late elementary), but speaking multiple languages and having foreign parents is cool… don’t most private school want this type of people? Don’t they advertise how many languages and nationalities are in their schools?
Don’t American parents send their kids to full immersion school so they can hopefully speak another language other than English? How lucky are the Hispanic kids that are already fluent!

I am sure a generation or two ago the reality was different, but being a proud American and refusing to learn your ore ta language/culture is not something anyone should be proud of… and again, I never see this around my kids today[/quote]

How do you know all the Chinese, Indian and Korean kids in school celebrate their heritage? What does that even mean? You think participating in "Global Studies" and bringing some food to an event one day a year means they're all super motivated to learn about their culture/heritage? Give me a break. [/quote]

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