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I don't see why you shouldn't. If I planned to live in Brazil, I'd have  no choice to learn Portuguese.

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But they have a national language, and aren't supposed to be the "melting pot" or whatever we're supposed to be.

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but insisting that people learn English is basically getting rid of part of their heritage.

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Because as we all know, once you've learned English you can never utter another phrase in your mother tongue.  

Heritage isn't monolingual*, and being forced to learn English =/= being forced to forget your other languages.

*Edit: Heritage isn't really language-based anyway.

Post edited at 11:50 pm on April 5, 2008 by Shaknbake

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part of being in the melting pot means that you give up a lot of your 'heritage' to become american while contributing something new to the pot

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Humbug. What you do/what you are within the confines of your personal life is nobody's business. If all-American Joe leaves his 9-5 job and goes home to his Hindi speaking wife and children and his tantric Hindu sex, why should it matter to the melting plot? Heritage always dies after a couple of generations anyway.

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No. We have no national language. It would be great if everyone was able to understand each other, but insisting that people learn English is basically getting rid of part of their heritage.

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WTF? How on Earth does expecting people to learn English 'get rid of part of their heritage'?

In a first-generation family where the parents speak English, they are less likely to teach their children their native language. Thus, the native language has a higher chance of stopping nearly completely at that generation. So, no, it doesn't stop the language so much with the people who learn English originally, but it does lower the chance of their children speaking the language (or speaking it especially well). This is just based on my experiences with Mexican and Italian immigrants.
Now, Shaknbake, you may not think language is an important part of heritage, but I do. Simple as that.

Abs, I know what the idea of a melting pot is. Not learning English doesn't prohibit you from opening restaurants or stores, speaking with people (not everyone is monolingual, and those who are monolingual can get translators), or displaying their customs with others from their country/area.

Abs, enlighten me about Brazil. They have an official language. They are diverse, but they aren't the supposed Great Melting Pot in which every culture supposedly exists. What am I missing here?

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Hey, jump down my throat, yeah?

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Nah. If I were jumping down your throat, you'd know about it.

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Just because you disagree with me does not mean that I'm suddenly a bumbling idiot.

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Actually, yes it does.

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In a first-generation family where the parents speak English, they are less likely to teach their children their native language.

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Even if the above were true (which I doubt), so what? Why is it the fault of their adopted country's government if parents are too lazy to teach their kids two languages?

Quite simply, expecting someone to speak English does not deny them the right to learn their ancesteral language. If they are too lazy to make the attempt to remain true to their heritage, then tough shit for them. No country should be expected to radically alter itself in order to conform to the whims of a bunch of immigrants. That's liberal crazy talk.

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Abs, I know what the idea of a melting pot is.

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No, you don't. What you're describing is the 'tossed salad' of immigration and integration. The melting pot analogy expects at least partial assimiliation of immigrants, along with them renouncing a fair measure of their 'heritage'.

Brazil is actually far closer to the melting pot ideal than America, which is sliding down the slippery slope to a 'tossed salad'.

And you all make it seem like learning a language is incredibly ease. After about age 12, it becomes increasingly difficult to learn a language, let alone master it. So how do you expect 30 year old immigrants from China that speak 9 words in english to teach their children how to speak English.

The blame doesn't rest on them, it rests on the American educational system for not doing it's job.