Our View: Give immigrants chance to gain English skills

Immigrants know how important English fluency is to their success here, and many people complain that immigrants don't learn English and yet, funds are being cut to help immigrants learn English. This makes no sense.    - - Donna Poisl

Opinion from Pressherald.com

Finding the funds to make language classes readily available makes all kinds of sense.

If there's one thing nearly all Americans agree on, it's that a command of the English language is necessary for finding a good job and living a productive life in this country.

And it's not at all uncommon for some people to criticize recent immigrants for a perceived inability (or even a lack of desire) to master the language of their new homeland.

That criticism makes little sense, because most new immigrants realize very quickly that a working knowledge of English is a necessity for navigating the ins and outs of life in the United States. That's why it seems both sad and senseless for Portland's adult education program to be falling short of the funding it requires to teach English to immigrants.
http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/give-immigrants-chance-to-gain-english-skills_2012-03-28.html
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