WORZALA'S WEDNESDAY WORD 5-16-07
Today's Wednesday Word is "karaoke" as in "This Wednesday Word is not really about karaoke."
I greatly enjoy singing Karaoke. I'm not saying I'm good at singing, I just enjoy doing it. I was out of town this weekend with my girlfriend and her family for her brother's college graduation and as we were wondering the bar lined streets looking for somewhere to spend Saturday night, my eyes caught a Karaoke teleprompter through the windows of a bar. Since everyone but the grad likes karaoke (or at least doesn't hate it) we stopped in for a drink and a song or two.
There was a gentleman, name of Jersey John, who sang half a dozen songs while we were there. He did a pretty decent "Shot In The Dark", but I hear if you screw up an Ozzie song the Prince of Darkness will rise out of the shadows and give you the "Alamo" treatment. Later in the night Jersey John sang Neil Diamond's classic "America", a song of immigration and hope for our great nation. Jersey John decided to take advantage of a pause in the song to shout into the microphone "If you don't speak English, get out!" And he said it more than once, so I'm sure that's what he said.
*ahem*
First, let me say the last person I want giving me advice about speaking English is someone from Jersey.
Second, my mother's ancestors came over on the Mayflower. My ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence. Josiah Bartlet, that's my blood. My father's ancestors, on the other hand, were kicking around Poland and Italy until the early 1900's. My great-grandmother, at the time of her death, still spoke the most bare of bones of English.
My point is this. I speak flawless English. My father speaks flawless English. My grandmother and her three sisters all spoke flawless English. They also spoke Italian, but they realized that if they wished to advanced in this country, they were going to have to learn to speak the English. People are not dumb, no matter where they are from or how they got here. People come to this country for the chance at a better life than they can have in their own country, and every parent wants better for their children than they themselves had. If you want to succeed in this country you have to learn to speak English. Not because we'll deport you if you don't, but because those are the rules of the game.
I don't know what has some people all in a bind over immigrants to a foreign country not being able to speak the language. I can think of three countries that speak English as a first language outside of ours, four if South Africa does, and I'm not sure about that. English is not an easy language to learn. Don't believe me? Look at; they're, their, there, to, two, too, bow, bow, beau, bough, cough and through just as an example.
I come from a state where entire towns taught school in German and had German only newspapers up until Ferdinand was killed and it was no longer cool to be down with The Fatherland. China Towns and Little Italys are considered quaint, but Mexican immigrants speaking Spanish is a threat to our way of life?
We'll use Spanish as the example as I head to the end. We have a large Mexican population in my town, because they come north to work in our meatpacking plants. If they can get a job putting a rail through a cow's brain and turning her into t-bones speaking only Spanish, more power to them. If they want to mop floors for a living speaking only Spanish, hey, here's your mop and bucket. But is that what you want for your kids? Ankle deep in sudsy water or cow blood? If you want to succeed in this country, if you want to move forward from where your parents started, you will have to learn English. If not you, then your children. And their children. Teach them a love for your language, teach them fluency in it, but just know that when they leave the house they're going to need to speak English if they want to succeed. There's no need for the Jersey Johns of this country to threaten "Learn our language or leave", because there's no need for the stick when the carrot is the American Dream. And the Dream comes in English.
I greatly enjoy singing Karaoke. I'm not saying I'm good at singing, I just enjoy doing it. I was out of town this weekend with my girlfriend and her family for her brother's college graduation and as we were wondering the bar lined streets looking for somewhere to spend Saturday night, my eyes caught a Karaoke teleprompter through the windows of a bar. Since everyone but the grad likes karaoke (or at least doesn't hate it) we stopped in for a drink and a song or two.
There was a gentleman, name of Jersey John, who sang half a dozen songs while we were there. He did a pretty decent "Shot In The Dark", but I hear if you screw up an Ozzie song the Prince of Darkness will rise out of the shadows and give you the "Alamo" treatment. Later in the night Jersey John sang Neil Diamond's classic "America", a song of immigration and hope for our great nation. Jersey John decided to take advantage of a pause in the song to shout into the microphone "If you don't speak English, get out!" And he said it more than once, so I'm sure that's what he said.
*ahem*
First, let me say the last person I want giving me advice about speaking English is someone from Jersey.
Second, my mother's ancestors came over on the Mayflower. My ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence. Josiah Bartlet, that's my blood. My father's ancestors, on the other hand, were kicking around Poland and Italy until the early 1900's. My great-grandmother, at the time of her death, still spoke the most bare of bones of English.
My point is this. I speak flawless English. My father speaks flawless English. My grandmother and her three sisters all spoke flawless English. They also spoke Italian, but they realized that if they wished to advanced in this country, they were going to have to learn to speak the English. People are not dumb, no matter where they are from or how they got here. People come to this country for the chance at a better life than they can have in their own country, and every parent wants better for their children than they themselves had. If you want to succeed in this country you have to learn to speak English. Not because we'll deport you if you don't, but because those are the rules of the game.
I don't know what has some people all in a bind over immigrants to a foreign country not being able to speak the language. I can think of three countries that speak English as a first language outside of ours, four if South Africa does, and I'm not sure about that. English is not an easy language to learn. Don't believe me? Look at; they're, their, there, to, two, too, bow, bow, beau, bough, cough and through just as an example.
I come from a state where entire towns taught school in German and had German only newspapers up until Ferdinand was killed and it was no longer cool to be down with The Fatherland. China Towns and Little Italys are considered quaint, but Mexican immigrants speaking Spanish is a threat to our way of life?
We'll use Spanish as the example as I head to the end. We have a large Mexican population in my town, because they come north to work in our meatpacking plants. If they can get a job putting a rail through a cow's brain and turning her into t-bones speaking only Spanish, more power to them. If they want to mop floors for a living speaking only Spanish, hey, here's your mop and bucket. But is that what you want for your kids? Ankle deep in sudsy water or cow blood? If you want to succeed in this country, if you want to move forward from where your parents started, you will have to learn English. If not you, then your children. And their children. Teach them a love for your language, teach them fluency in it, but just know that when they leave the house they're going to need to speak English if they want to succeed. There's no need for the Jersey Johns of this country to threaten "Learn our language or leave", because there's no need for the stick when the carrot is the American Dream. And the Dream comes in English.
Labels: Worzala's Wednesday Word
posted by Matt Worzala at
9:31 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home