This story illustrates how immigrants want to learn English, but often aren't able to and are afraid to try the little they do know for fear of being wrong. DP
By Jennifer Clampet, The Times
TigardTimes.com: The feeling of being watched in public keeps Dina Martinez, of Tualatin, and Edith Sanchez, of Tigard, quiet most of the time.
They’re afraid of making a mistake. They’re afraid of the arched eyebrows or the grumbles that follow when they begin to speak and their Spanish accents are exposed.
“When I talk, I’m never sure whether I’m saying the correct sentence – always not sure,” Martinez said.
Martinez seldom leaves her apartment. The stay-at-home mother of two doesn’t like to venture out into the world. She waits for her husband to come home from work, and they go grocery shopping together.
A call from a stranger at Sanchez’s house is answered by her daughter. Yes, her mother is home, the pre-teen says, but no she can’t come to the phone. Her mother doesn’t speak English.
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