Hey guys, I am from Switzerland and been traveling since a while in the states, I noticed some weird stuff recently.
I was in a national park, met a couple with two kids, the couple were speaking some Slavic language, but the kids were replying in English.
Then a different national park, a couple, the father was speaking Dutch, the mother was American, the kids were speaking Dutch.
I am asking because I feel the Europeans are most "easily absorbable" immigrants in the states, so most of the immigrants will likely "give up" their parents language.
I am very interested in you guys' story!
26 comments
Nope.
My mom is third gen, so I’ll answer for her. When her grandparents were still alive, yes, she spoke to them in [Rusyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusyn_language). Being 4th gen, I only learned enough to go to church, be polite, and get scolded by my grandmother in Rusyn.
However, European or not, 3rd gen does tend to be the cut-off. 69% of 3rd-gen Latin Americans are English dominant ([source](https://galeoimpactfund.org/2021/10/spanish-language-lost-within-third-generation-latinos/#:~:text=By%20the%20third%20generation%2C%20almost,by%20the%20host%20country's%20language.)).
No. My parents wanted to learn English for work. Felt being seen as an immigrants would hold them back,
My grandmother spoke the old language until around age 5. She became an orphan and was adopted, so stopped speaking it. When I was 19 I went to live in the old country for a year. And became pretty good at conversation while I was there. So many years later and I remember some, but not for conversations.
Not a lick. It died with my dad’s generation.
Third gen and not at all. I’m an Italian kid but I grew up in L.A. so my 2nd language is Spanish. My parents didn’t have any interest in learning it from my grandparents
Best friend in high school was born to Romanian immigrants to the US. He could speak Romanian decently well from what I understand. Other Romanians would joke with him about his not perfect language skills from time to time, but I’m not sure if that’s from him legitimately being not good or if it’s just a cultural thing like it is with Mexicans and Spanish.
3rd Gen Norwegian. I only know a few easy phrases. My dad doesn’t speak it either, but his sister speaks it fluently and has made a career out of translating between the two. Even got to be the translator for the king of Norway when he visited Seattle.
Да, свободна даже
Yes, but, after 40 years I more or less understand both but can’t spontaneously speak either. See, I am from the generation of children where my parents strategically figured you must speak American in order to fit in. So we spoke American in public and at school but Old Country at home, and we (my sister and I) were left American-speaking Old-Country-Understanding half-speakers of our old country languages.
No, the language did not last, but I don’t know how much the effect of general assimilation vs. being at war with the country matters.
My parent’s language is English. My grandparents immigrated here as children from Germany and The Netherlands. I know absolutely nothing about either country or their languages. My dad doesn’t either. My family seemed to fully assimilate within a single generation, and we didn’t keep any ties to the “old country”. I don’t feel any differently about Germany or The Netherlands than I do about France or Denmark.
Nope. Italian grandparent on my dads side never learnt because his dad passed away as a kid, so they lost the language early on after moving to the US. I really want to learn with my sisters, but don’t know where to start :/
I know a bisl Yiddish, but not fluently
My grandpa is 1st generation so my dad would be second generation. Neither of them learned Polish.
Apparently my great grandpa wanted to adapt to America and leave the old world behind so he learned English pretty quickly, and basically never looked back. He wouldn’t even travel to Europe when he had the time and money to do choosing to travel around the US instead.
To be fair this was very much a different time as my grandpa grew up in the 30s so his father immigrated sometime in the early 1900s. Still it would have been cool to know polish or have current connections to Europe.
No. My paternal grandparents were both born in the US to recent immigrants and spoke Yiddish as their first language. But they never taught it to my dad and aunt – they’d use it as a secret language to talk so the kids couldn’t understand.
My father’s native language was Czech, although he, his parents, and his grandparents on one side were born in the US. They lived in a small, rural, immigrant community where everyone spoke Czech. He began learning English when he started public school at age 6. My mother wasn’t of Czech ancestry, so it wasn’t spoken in our home, and I don’t speak it. At least one of my cousins, who grew up in the same community, also spoke Czech. Another cousin studied Czech in college and then visited relatives in the Czech Republic. His parents were also native speakers, and they used to vacation there when it was still Czechoslovakia. They spoke the language, and their retirement income went further there.
No, language does not often go past 2nd generation. People mostly want to assimilate. Also in the past it was extremely necessary to assimilate because nobody wanted to be “too German” in the 40s and 50s or “too Soviet” during the cold war.
Mate I’m German (as in first gen) and even I lost my German when I lived in the states for 14 years, even with going back every summer I managed to lose it lol. It’s v hard to keep if you don’t speak it day to day
Also, kinda funny part I’ll add is now I’ve lived in Germany again for a few years and I notice that I forget some words in English. Thankfully I still speak it daily with my girlfriend (and parents/sister on FaceTime) and a bit at work but other than that I’d probably be fucked
I know some Greek words and Phrases but my Papou (Grandpa in Greek) doesn’t want me to learn Greek. He rather have me learn Spanish because of my Mexican grandmother. Once I’m done learning Spanish I’ll start learning Greek.
Theias= Aunt
Theios= Uncle
Tee-Kah-nis= How are you
Koukla= doll
My maternal Great Grandparents were 1st gen born in the USA from Portugal (The Azores) and Germany. My Grandmother was not allowed to learn Portugese becsuse my Portuguese Great Great Grandmother didnt want my Grandmother overhearing my Great Great Grandmother shit talking about my Great Grandmother behind her back then informing them. So yeah none of. As far as Im aware my Grandmother didn’t speak any German either
No
God no.
My Italian grand parents came off the boat in the early 20th century. I cant speak a lick of Italian except a few choice words
Yes, my paternal family side were Ashkenazi Jews from Belarus, Ukraine and Russia and I have a grasp on Russian language. It also doesn’t hurt that are many Russian speakers in my region from the former USSR countries so there is a community to maintain it in. If I lived anywhere else I imagine it would be more difficult.
My paternal grandparents came from Italy, and my maternal grandmother came from Colombia. I can only speak English, but my older brother can speak fluent Italian.
3rd gen Italian and no I can not.