On 12/8/2014 2:31 PM, Michael Jackson wrote:
>
/The last time I checked, immigrants, if they want to be U.S. citizens,
must be able to speak and understand English and must use English in
public schools. Spanish and German are usually referred to as a second
language. In the U.S., anyone can speak any language they prefer in
their home. However, it makes sense for all immigrants to speak English
in order to be more easily assimilated, find employment and get educated.
http://immigration.findlaw.com/citizenship/requirements-for-applying-for-citizenship-in-the-united-states.html
/>
BBC News <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/> Europe
8 December 2014 Last updated at 14:17 ET
'Speak German at home' row as conservatives target migrants
Immigrants should speak German not only in public but also in the
home, Bavaria's governing conservatives say - provoking a torrent of
criticism.
The Christian Social Union (CSU), an ally of German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, says it is a matter for debate, and is not yet official policy.
Critics launched a Twitter hashtag - #YallaCSU
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/yallacsu?src=hash>- which became a top
trending topic among German Twitter users.
Some express alarm about politics reaching into the home.
The hashtag is an ironic joke at the CSU's expense, as "Yalla" is
Arabic for "let's go!"
The CSU draft proposal says "people who want to remain here on a
permanent basis should be encouraged to speak German in public and
within the family".
CSU general secretary Andreas Scheuer said the proposal was "well
prepared and widely backed".
The general secretary of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD),
Yasmin Fahimi, said the CSU had "arrived in Absurdistan.
"It would be hilarious if it weren't so dangerous," she said. The SPD,
like the CSU, is in coalition with Ms Merkel's Christian Democrats
(CDU) at national level.
Language police?
The SPD's leader in Bavaria, Natascha Kohnen, suggested the proposal
would be impossible to enforce, saying "all we need now is the CSU
language police, to control all of this".
CDU General Secretary Peter Tauber said "I think it's nothing to do
with politics whether I speak Latin, Klingon or Hessian at home".
And the Greens leader in Bavaria, Eike Hallitzky, joked that the CSU's
next move might be to tell citizens to have blue-and-white carpets at
home - the colours of the Bavarian flag.
The CSU has played a prominent role in pushing immigration higher up
the political agenda.
<http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics>
EU data
<http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Migration_and_migrant_population_statistics>
shows that Germany was the main European destination for immigrants in
2012 (592,200), followed by the UK (498,000), Italy (350,800) and
France (327,400). Worldwide, Germany is also the top destination for
asylum seekers.
<https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/AuslaendischeBevolkerung/Tabellen/StaatsangehoerigkeitJahre.html>
German official data
<https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/GesellschaftStaat/Bevoelkerung/MigrationIntegration/AuslaendischeBevolkerung/Tabellen/StaatsangehoerigkeitJahre.html>shows
that Turks formed the largest foreign-born group in Germany in 2013
(1.5m), followed by Asians, non-EU Europeans (including Russians and
Bosnians), and immigrants from EU members Poland and Italy.
In comments to the BBC, Paul Patel, a British expatriate in Munich,
backed the CSU proposal.
"I want my daughter to grow up bilingual and so we use both English
and German with her. Why not also speak German at home, whatever your
native language is? If we as immigrants see our long-term future in
this very supportive country, then the old adage 'practice makes
perfect' is appropriate here," he said.
But Steve Coombs, a Briton living in Wiesloch, said that "as far as
the language goes, my employer considers me to be German - however,
the language I speak within my own four walls is my own concern".
Hassan Saad, another immigrant resident in Germany, said "the idea of
speaking German at home is never implementable.
"We all have our freedom of language.... I believe this (proposal)
reflects the failure of integration in Germany and the resulting
frustration."
More Europe stories <http://www.bbc.com/news/world/europe/>
*
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plans <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30375569>
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children in Turkey face heavy criticism from opponents.
*
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<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30380979>
*
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<http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30374615>
BBC
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