Reply #18

In the discussion thread: The tragedy of dying languages [View all]

Mon Feb 20, 2012, 01:49 PM

Romulox (22,535 posts)

18. Nobody prevented you from learning Norwegian. That was your choice.

Immigrants almost uniformly lose their mother tongue after a few generations--often despite parent's sending their children to pricey private schools and after-school programs conducted entirely in the parent's native tongue.

It's because the language of the old country many times isn't terribly useful in day to day life, and gets little reinforcement outside structured settings.

Reply to this post

Back to OP Alert abuse Link to post in-thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

88 replies	Author	Time	Post
The tragedy of dying languages [View all]	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	OP
K & R Thanks for posting	a la izquierda	Feb 2012	#1
I'm currently learning Scottish Gaelic. nt	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#2
Is that very different from Irish Gaelic?	flamingdem	Feb 2012	#14
Both are part of the Goidelic languages nt	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#16
According to Wiki	flamingdem	Feb 2012	#17
Cornish is part of the Brythonic languages.	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#19
Old article from 2010	BumRushDaShow	Feb 2012	#3
What's really lost	zipplewrath	Feb 2012	#4
I'd disagree with "The passing of a tounge that virtually no one uses anymore isn't all that	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#10
But not of a dying language	zipplewrath	Feb 2012	#13
Dickensian English, not so much.	MineralMan	Feb 2012	#20
You probably would understand a few words of Aeld Englisc as compared to Irish Gaelic	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#41
I know there's no connection. I was just using Gaelic as an example.	MineralMan	Feb 2012	#45
I agree that Old English would be largely unintelligble.	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#48
It all depends on who is hearing the unusual accent.	MineralMan	Feb 2012	#50
It definitely helps if the listener is exposed to a variety of accents.	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#52
I used to translate for coworkers from Downeast Maine and South Georgia...	FarCenter	Feb 2012	#69
Well said.	H2O Man	Feb 2012	#55
counterpoint ...	eppur_se_muova	Feb 2012	#5
Interesting link	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#11
This is a choice made by people of these groups.	Romulox	Feb 2012	#6
+1	Poll_Blind	Feb 2012	#8
Most of the dead Native American languages were deliberately killed	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#9
+1	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#12
Nobody prevented you from learning Norwegian. That was your choice.	Romulox	Feb 2012	#18
Wasn't me--it was my grandparents who stopped speaking Norwegian	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#21
You tend to make my point. nt	Romulox	Feb 2012	#23
During World War I there was a lot of pressure on immigrant communities to use English	FarCenter	Feb 2012	#68
Yes, that was the era. My aunt would have been in 1st grade in 1915.	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#70
Several years ago, I saw a documentary on PBS about the treatment of the Cajuns in Lousiana	aint_no_life_nowhere	Feb 2012	#30
I have a friend who stll remembers how her teacher slapped her face hard	suffragette	Feb 2012	#58
+1000	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#44
Yes and no	REP	Feb 2012	#76
Indeed!	CanSocDem	Feb 2012	#7
So interesting, thanks	flamingdem	Feb 2012	#15
To my knowledge, only one indigenous language is gaining speakers	KamaAina	Feb 2012	#22
I noticed that growth between 1977 and 1991	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#24
Yup. The overall cultural renaissance began in 1978	KamaAina	Feb 2012	#25
A few of the minority European languages are also enjoying revivals.	hunter	Feb 2012	#57
Why in the world is this a tragedy?	former9thward	Feb 2012	#26
Honduras vs. El Salvador in 1969	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#27
Honduras vs. El Salvador in 1969"	former9thward	Feb 2012	#31
Are you monolingual?	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#32
Various languages keep people in low standards of living.	former9thward	Feb 2012	#35
Oh, you aren't "on the left" then?	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#37
I speak English.	former9thward	Feb 2012	#40
So you know nothing of the beauty of other languages or why	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#64
let's be fair then	Sea-Dog	Feb 2012	#38
You may not have heard of Esparanto.	former9thward	Feb 2012	#43
I'm not of the mind that wiping out languages is a great thing	Sea-Dog	Feb 2012	#61
And it never caught on	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#63
Keep those rightwing talking points coming.	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#46
I would say individualistic languages which separate people	former9thward	Feb 2012	#47
Really. Then why are all the English first people right wing?	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#49
I don't know what you mean by English first	former9thward	Feb 2012	#51
Where did I say that it would be ok with me. Way to overreach on that one.	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#53
Nothing could be mandated.	former9thward	Feb 2012	#54
French used to be the international language.	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#56
"I have never ran," "the less languages"	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#66
You have been putting up strawmen all through this thread.	former9thward	Feb 2012	#78
???? n/t	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#85
I have never met a left-winger who was offended when immigrants spoke their native language	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#67
"They're POSITIVE that the immigrants are talking trash about them."	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#71
In real life, no, the left wing supports cultural self-determination	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#65
Again +1	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#88
:( nt	sudopod	Feb 2012	#28
Best example of...	LanternWaste	Feb 2012	#29
best throw away comment yet	Sea-Dog	Feb 2012	#34
It's a valid point.	randome	Feb 2012	#39
dogma more like	Sea-Dog	Feb 2012	#59
Champions of one language should learn how to use it.	REP	Feb 2012	#73
The bloodiest wars are when they speak the same language...	hunter	Feb 2012	#74
The American Civil War had more causalities than WW I and WW II?	former9thward	Feb 2012	#80
The wars in Europe were civil wars.	hunter	Feb 2012	#81
WWI and WW II were not civil wars.	former9thward	Feb 2012	#82
Sorry. All those white Christian people look alike to me.	hunter	Feb 2012	#83
The languages are similar?	former9thward	Feb 2012	#84
Who said anything about Japan or China?	hunter	Feb 2012	#86
That may be what you were talking about.	former9thward	Feb 2012	#87
Happy International Mother Language Day 21/2/2012 nt	MichaelMcGuire	Feb 2012	#33
Dydd Mamiaith Rhyngwladol Hapus!	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#42
Cenadl heb iaith, cenadl heb garon	REP	Feb 2012	#62
Hen air ardderchog, REP	geardaddy	Feb 2012	#72
K&R	Solly Mack	Feb 2012	#36
K&R	suffragette	Feb 2012	#60
My middle daughter took four years of latin in high school. Teacher retired and it's gone.	HopeHoops	Feb 2012	#75
I even paid tribute to this in a book	DFW	Feb 2012	#77
This points up the fact that a lot of smaller tribes were wiped out	Lydia Leftcoast	Feb 2012	#79

Edit History

Please login to view edit histories.