Losing the Mother Tongue
The conversion from mother tongue to English has typically been a three-generation process, said Richard Alba, professor of sociology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. The adult immigrant arrives, has great difficulty learning English and speaks the mother tongue. The immigrant’s U.S.-born children speak the mother tongue at home, learn English at school and prefer to speak English. The immigrant’s grandchildren speak only English and have lost the mother tongue.
Heritage Tidbits: For Latinos, Two Languages are Better Than One
