Population Reference Bureau:

But while nearly 50 million Americans spoke a language other than English at home in 2004—nearly one-fifth of all U.S. residents age 5 or older—what the debate misses is that today’s immigrants are on average making the transition to speaking English more quickly than immigrants at any other time in U.S. history.

Adult immigrants themselves are not learning English. They almost never have, throughout our history. But the children of immigrants, the ones who we actually educate, are, so fears of an entrenched Spanish-only community are unfounded, despite all mongering to the contrary.

i have no prob with english immersion….i do have a prob with newtie

saying that, i hope he wins the repug nomination….cuz he can always be counted on to stick his big foot into his even bigger mouth

…but definitely the kind of guy who drops the N-bomb after looking over both shoulders and probably smiled once or twice about Katrina.

Any evidence to support this speculation?

As the snow flies
On a cold and gray chicago mornin
A poor little baby Jew is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
cause if theres one thing that she dont need
Its another Jewish child to teach
In the ghetto

People, dont you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he’ll grow to be an bad-english-speaking young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
Are we too blind to see,
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way

Well the world turns
And a hungry Jewish boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto

ETC.

Okay, lousy joke.

As for not imitating the multi-cultural Europe, as a CURRENT resident of one of the favorite destinations, Spain, I must energetically AGREE. Please DON’T make our mistake. One of the good things about how harsh America is, is the fact that if forces you to adapt, to rise to the challenge. Our social services are so strong that it encourages the lazy and non-integration. It wasn’t a problem before, since people had a work-ethic and a higher standard than bare minimum, but with the avalanche of illegals, it’s becoming a serious issue.

That’s how it is done in the Netherlands, and that’s how it should be done imo: when you move to a country, you should learn the language of the majority. If you don’t want to, you should not come. It is that simple.

It was pumped up by academics in the Bay area back in the 1990s as an alternate English for African American youth.

However, Black leaders savaged the idea, and it remains largely an academic fantasy to this day. After all, look at the remarkable rhetorical skills of numerous Black leaders — Martin Luther King being a striking example, Jesse Jackson (folks might not like him, but the man can definitely speak well) — in standard English.

I remember Bill Cosby in particular, being brutal in beating down ebonics. As he noted, realistically African American kids would graduate with a degree in ebonics…and despite the law or the rulings of schoolboards…everyone would know it meant they couldn’t read and write English. No one would hire a Black kid with ebonics on his transcript.

I don’t think America wants to replicate the ghettoes of multicultural Europe…with every ethnic group largely confined in their own swathes of cities…and little common ground.

There is a larger question here though, and, I would say that question is immigration and the effect that massive illegal immigration has on the our national culture, politics, and, prosperity. In my opinion we are trying to absorb far too many illegal aliens and it is having a very negative affect on our country. This is an invasion from our neighbors to the south and it must be stopped. The numbers are growing so large that Hispanics are becoming embolden. They even publicly threaten us in an attempt to bully us into acceptance by intimidation. This must stop. I see this as a greater threat than the middle east.

As has already been pointed out, he is in no way suggesting that no language other than English is to be taught. He’s obviously referring to programs for new immigrants, not foreign language courses for native English speakers.

An additional thing is the “ghetto” reference. I personally think it’s blindingly obvious that he’s trying to equate knowledge of English with success in the US, and likewise lack of knowledge of English with failure. If you think that insinuating that ending up in the ghetto is failing is racist or evil, well I have nothing to say, as I really don’t know how to deal with certain levels of PC. The fact is that learning proper English is essential to success in America. That counts for native born Americans as well. Does speaking an English that isn’t standard make you stupid or dishonest? No, of course not, but your level of education will be questioned, and your life will be harder. When I was in school most Asian families understood this, going as far sometimes as to prohibit their kids from speaking Chinese in the home, in order for them to adapt faster. The result was a much faster assimilation of Chinese immigrants than other immigrants, despite the vastly greater difference in culture and language.

The ghetto reference though I think was either highly ignorant, or truly racist. In this country, it is the fault of pro-white policy of government. If you look at the flight from the cities that was most obvious right after WWII, the government subsidized home loans for whites but typically did not provide the same for minorities. So when Gingrich refers to the ‘language of the ghetto’ he is referring to the language of non-whites in general.

And as long as the author gets to indulge in pure speculation, I should be able to as well………perhaps “ghetto” is simply referring to the antithesis of assimilation.