For many immigrants in the Valley, life continues as it did in their native countries

This article is about the immigrant communities and how they do not assimilate. There is no need to. People who have been here since the 1970s still don't speak much English. If they stay in their community, they don't need English. This is a sad story. DP

By Tony Castro, Staff Writer

dailynews.com: PACOIMA - The Mexican ranchero music blaring from the corner jukebox drowned out most of what the afternoon lunch crowd at La Costa Azul restaurant was saying.

It could have been any one of thousands of Mexican diners throughout Los Angeles: Mirrored advertisements for Corona Extra, Tecate and Budweiser. A painting of the Virgen de Guadalupe and another of her discoverer St. Juan Diego. Votive candles above the shelves of glasses.

And the day's shrimp specials chalked on a board: Camarones Rancheros. Camarones al Mojo de Alo. Camarones a la Diabla. Camarones Empanizados. Camarones Ahogados. Camarones Imperiales. Camarones a la Plancha.

"You can now live in some communities in America and live your entire life as if you were still in Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala or Honduras," Pacoima neighborhood activist Edwin Ramirez says while munching one of La Costa Azul's house specialties.

But there is no hint of braggadocio in his observation. Instead, there is a sense of ironic sadness and lament.

"I straddle two worlds - and they are both my own," says Ramirez. "Culturally, it's good that Spanish is spoken universally in a lot of communities like Pacoima. But it's not good when it doesn't allow you to assimilate into the new society. There are people here (from Central America) who have been here since the 1970s whose English is still worse than that of kindergartners.
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