Classes in Russian, Persian and Hindi are being offered to these high school students to learn the language of their families. This country needs more bilingual citizens, this is a good plan all around. - - Donna Poisl
By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, Los Angeles
Second- and third-generation immigrants tend to lose the language and culture of their ancestors. The University of California Los Angeles hosts summer classes for high school students intended to break that pattern.
Heritage Language program director Olga Kagan says the youngsters are regenerating cultural roots that assimilation almost severed.
"These kids are either first generation born here, or a few of them are 1.5 generation, which means they came here early."
Graduate student Larisa Karkafi, born and raised in Ukraine, leads Russian "heritage language" learners through a story about a World War II orphanage. They laugh when a student misses the subtle difference between the Russian words for "salted meat" and "elephant meat."
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This country was built by immigrants, it will continue to attract and need immigrants. Some people think there are enough people here now -- people have been saying this since the 1700s and it still is not true. They are needed to make up for our aging population and low birthrate. Immigrants often are entrepreneurs, creating jobs. We must help them become Americans and not just people who live here and think of themselves as visitors. When immigrants succeed here, the whole country benefits.
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