MrSpice
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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 Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 4:09 am Post subject: |
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| krasatulya wrote: | | Why is that so much easier and healthier? I have a Russian husband and I look forward to having bilingual and bicultural children. Do you think we're going to produce some social pariahs because our children will have parents that weren't born in the same country? |
I think it is wonderful when children are tought to speak another language. And when and if I have kids, I hope they learn Russian as well so they can appreciate some great poetry, literature and movies in Russian without translation. However, I do realize that it's a very difficult task. I see kids who came to the US at the age of 14 or 15 and who never spoke any English before they came here. Just 10 years later they barely speak Russian among each other. And if they do speak, it's only because they have to communicate with their russian-speaking relatives. SO, I think preserving a culture and/or a language that is not widely used in business and career is a difficult task. The kid may grow up a bit and ask: "Why do I need to know Russian when I can instead learn to speak Chinese or Spanish which would be much more useful for my career?" And that's a legitimate question. But I will try  |
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PapaG
Frequent Guest
Joined: 15 Jul 2006
Posts: 36
Location: ïîä Ïýà÷òðýý, Ãýîðãèà, ÑØÀ
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:04 am Post subject: |
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| MrSpice wrote: | | "Why do I need to know Russian when I can instead learn to speak Chinese or Spanish which would be much more useful for my career?" |
I think my great-great-great-grandfather named McDougal (?) may have said something similar during the potatoe famine:
| GGGF McDougal wrote: | | "Why do I need to know Gaelic when I can instead learn to speak English or German which would be much more useful in America?" |
(I don't speak Gaelic, so I must apologize for the anglicised spelling of the family name.)
| surfguy wrote: | | Yes if I had children who are also from Russian descent then I would want them to speak Russian and know that part of their heritage... |
Language and culture is personal as well as social. It forms the fabric of personal and family identity.
Through public schools I was exposed to new foods that my family did not eat. In grade school it was rice, pizza and spaghetti. In middle school it was burritos and tacos. High school was kabobs and chop suey. At university it was yogurt and croissants. I discovered sushi and bulgogi on business trips. Family foods like kolatch, spaetzl, and gompky were not served at school.
Location can change our personal culture and language. I was exposed to French in middle school in the midwest. Spanish was the only language option in High school in the southwest. Spending a summer in southern Spain allowed learning some Arabic. Working for a Japanese company initiated studying that language and culture.
World events will direct our use of language and our adherence to cultural practices. My grandparents (2nd generation born in America) gave up publicly speaking their native language in 1919. My grandparents spoke their private language when they didn't want my mother or uncles to understand. They continued to argue in English that the other spoke "Low Dutch". My great uncle anglicised the family name for his decendants.
Time changes our cultural behavior. On the WW1 draft cards, my grandfather and great uncles had lots of excuses, "needed on the farm", "bad leg", and "poor health". However, during the "great patriotic war", my father and uncles volunteered. My first cousin-once-removed, visited the ancestral villiage and helped relieve some of the extended family suffering during the difficult occupation and rebuilding years. We still have occasional communication with the cousins in the old country. Now our lost language barrier is bridged by their bilingual capabilities.
When she was in her 70s, my grandmother made an attempt to remember German and try to teach me a few words. (Maybe I'm schleck or we didn't start soon enough.) In retirement, when my parents went out to eat, my mom was adventurous and wanted to try new ethnic foods, my father stuck to "meat, potatoes and gravy".
| surfguy wrote: | | ...it's important and gives them good foundations as to who they are. |
I agree that personal language and culture is foundational, Surfguy, in fact, I want my family to not just understand our personal cultural identity but also to grow beyond our current borders. In light of that, our Russian connection is a success!
| krasatulya wrote: | | Why is that so much easier and healthier? I have a Russian husband and I look forward to having bilingual and bicultural children. Do you think we're going to produce some social pariahs because our children will have parents that weren't born in the same country? |
I doubt your children will be social pariahs because of country of origin of their parents. Most of my American ancestors were multicultural and multi lingual marriages. Think of the large number of Russian, Korean, Romanian, Chinese etc. children who adapt through adoption into families that do not speak their native language. There is a significant pool of multicultural talent in America.
"Bicultural" and "bilingual" have a tenacious existence in America. Americans are adaptive, dynamic, absorbing and constantly changing but generally apathetic about a second language. (I feel like a foreigner when I visit my hometown after my 20 year exile.) If we promote foreign language in our educational system the situation may change.
(Without Gaelic, I can't pronounce McDougal properly and I've never tried haggis. Apologies for the anglicization of German, Polish, and Bohemian foods but I still like to eat them. Many thanks to the survivor of the 1848 Bohemian revolt who died at sea bringing his 14 children to America.) |
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vitalsigns
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 2784
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Àôòýð òý áàñèêñ, Ãîä, ôàìèëè, ôðèýíäñ, âõàò ýëñý èñ òýðý? |
Äó íîò íîó ôîò ýëç èç òýðý áàò àé äèíê èò èç ôàíè |
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