Reply #38: Good question.

[donco6]

In my experience here in Colorado, the vast majority of non-English speaking parents want their children to speak English very badly. But they can't teach them - they don't know themselves!

Yes, there are a few others who - in addition to wanting their kids to learn English - want to preserve their culture, and fear that if English becomes the child's predominant language, they'll "forget" they are "Mexican". They tend to want true bilingual instruction - mastery in both languages.

But I don't know too many who have been here for generations and who don't know any English when they get to school. It's almost always the first or second generation.