Reply #34: I agree [View All]

[City of Mills]

I live in a multicultural city, and I strongly feel that this country needs to have an official language and stop the bilingual education. The kids in bilingual education tend to fall behind as they have to take classes in both english and whatever language they speak fluently. I've seen a lot of kids I grew up with fall behind and end up getting stuck working manufacturing jobs because they have no opportunities. I'll make some blatant generalizations here based on my experience - the hispanic and cambodian population in this city suffer the most with this, as they tend to speak their own language at home and amongst their peers (often, the parents, who were the original immigrants, never learn english). However, I see a stark contrast with the indian/pakistan immigrants. I personally know several guys who have been in this country less than a year, and they already speak understandable, functional english. This makes such a difference, as they are able to function in this very english-immersed society and they have a political voice as well. I love all of the different cultures in this city and I hate to see anyone lose opportunity based on the simple fact that they cannot communicate.