Nestor wrote:
> But the basic question is "why does not the German
> formation work in order to have these migrants learn German?". In
> Argentina, European migrants were very proud that they did not speak
> the same language that the unworthy locals, but the Argentine
> formation took the pains to educate them into our own language, and
> if not themselves their children were lucky not only to learn Spanish
> but also to attain a higher level of education they would have ever
> attained in Europe. There was an interest of the Argentinian ruling
> classes to include those newcomers into the country. There does not
> seem to exist such an interest among the German ruling classes today.
I have been away from any computer for a few days so I could not comment
on the 'language' discussion. As I have stated before anything relating to
immigration is in my opinion of key signifigance for revolutionaries in
imperialist countries. Unfortunately the discussion heres has got a personalized
tone sometimes, and I fear comrades outside Germany got a wrong impression
about reality in Germany.
Actually there are very few immigrants who do not know enough German to
communicate. Almost any job in Germany will need at least very basic German
language skills, only in very few jobs (cleaning, kitchen) you can get along
without any German.
Furthermore there are no 'ghettos' in the US-American sense of the word.
There are several resons for this fact. Due to the industrial structure of
Germany distribution of immigrants is relativly even (e.g. compared to the
UK). Immigration to Germany is coming from several countries, all having
different languages, thus simply the 'critical' mass of forming a national ghetto
lacked. When Germans refer to certain inner city areas as ghettos, its just
a neighborhood with a high percentage of immigrants from different nations,
but even there the 'lingua franca' will be German.
Generally the ruling class in Germany has a economic interest that the
immigrants learn German, thats why there is state funding for language classes.
The reason is obvious: most jobs require at least some German. After all
one of the economic benefit (for the capitalist class) of immigration lies in
the fact that almost no education has to be paid for, since immigrants
usually arrive, when having finished their eductation in their home countries. So
paying for just a language course is a very cheap way of geting a fully
educated worker.
Of course there are immigrants who do not know any German and even did not
try (or get a chance) to learn it. Mostly they are women from the first
generation of immigrants. Generally they came a few years later than their
husbands and never intended to work in Germany. Given their daily life, they
simply dont see much profit from learning a more or less difficult language at
their age. From their perspective (opposed to the perspective of a German
university graduate) a not so stupid decission.
>From the discussion I got the impression Anton (and Nestor at least in the
case of Argentina) are favouring the idea of some compulsory language
courses for immigrants. Let me say I oppose this for various reasons. The first
one is just a practical one: I dont think you will make much progress in
subject you are just forced to study, especially learning languages needs some
sort of effort from the student if there should be any success.
The second reason why I oppose compulsory language classes is political:
In the present discussion in Germany 'language' just stands for 'integration'
a term hated by most immigrants in Germany today. I will show in a
seperate post, why 'integration' is the key bourgeois ideology in the field of
immigration in Germany today.
Johannes
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