It’s immigrants’ duty to learn the language

This opinion piece is a first hand story of a person who arrived here in 1955, was immersed in the local school classroom. All immigrant students learned English and kept their own language too. No ESL classes, but they learned quickly. DP

By a reader of The Buffalo News

My family, as many families did, came to the United States from Sicily in 1955. We sailed on the Andrea Doria, a ship that sank six months later. I was one of seven children, ages 2 to 17. We knew not a word of English and lived in a household on the West Side in which only Sicilian was spoken.

Upon arriving in Buffalo, my siblings and I were immediately enrolled in what was then School 19. The principal decided to initially place us in grades two years lower than our respective age levels. By the time June came along, we had all been accelerated to our appropriate grades.

There were no English as a Second Language classes, and we were all taught in English. It was total immersion and we all quickly learned. In fact, we learned so well that we were soon acting as interpreters for our parents. I can remember shopping as a 6-year-old with my mother on Grant Street and having to translate between her and the store clerk.

My brother and sister, who were 11 and 13, both earned the Jesse Ketchum award when they reached the eighth grade. That same brother retired five years ago as a U. S. Customs supervisor.

Of the seven children, five graduated from college, three with master’s degrees. We earned our livings as a teacher, an office worker, a grocery store owner, an accountant, a customs agent and a Ford Assembly Plant tool and die maker. I recently retired from Erie County as a probation officer.

My siblings and I are products of the Buffalo Public School System. We attended Schools 19 and 3 and then Grover Cleveland, Hutch Tech and Burgard high schools. Our parents never expected us to be taught in Sicilian. We had excellent teachers, and we are all grateful that we were taught in English.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.