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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Social Benefits of Mother Tongue
for Immigrants Noted by Prof.
NEW YORK — Most re-
cent immigrants to the
United States start to learn
English very rapidly. Al-
most as rapidly, they begin
to discontinue use of their
native language, even with,
each other. Within three
generations, the use of a na-
tive language is usually
gone, and Dr. Joshua A.
Fishman of Yeshiva Uni-
rsity does not think that
is necessarily good for
America.
"The loss of language is
always accompanied bym
loss of community," Dr.
FishMan said. When the
sense of community is lost,
there is an alienation of the
individual, and that leads to
increased crime, divorce,
alcoholism and the other
problems of modern, Ameri-
can society."
Dr. Fishman has edited a
book on the use of one native
language in America.
"Never Say Die," to be pub-
lished later this month by
Mouton Publishers in New
York City, is a sociological
study of Yiddish in the
United States, the professor
said.
A native mother tongue
"appreciably _enriches
and gives substantial se-
curity and continuity to
the lives of these people,"
Dr. Fishman s4id.
According to the 1970
census, some 35 million
people in the U.S. claimed
they had a mother tongue _
other than English and
some 12 million said they
used that language in their
homes.
"There is no longer any
widespread problem with
minority populations learn-
ing English," Dr. Fishman
said. "In 1976, there were
only one million non-
English speakers in the
United States, out of a total
population of 230 million.
But you have to be wicked or
blind or both not to recog-
nize that there is a huge
contribution on the other
side too."
Contrary to what many
Americans
think, few prob-
-• lems in most
bilingual
communities are due to
bilingualism, Dr. Fishman
said. "Most of the kids
flunking out of school these
days a1.e monolingual,
English speakers," he ex-
plained. "Multi-lingual
people do not make extra
problems for our society be-
cause of their multi-
lingualism. There has never
been an ethnic, linguistic
arty or an ethnic, linguis-
tic separatist movement in
America."
"Whenever I speak to
multi-lingual people," Dr.
Fishman said, "I find
again and again that
most of them are hurt by
this attitude that they are
less than Americans.
They usually talk about
the _sons that they lost in
wars fighting for
America, and they ask
how many more sons
they will have to lose be-
fore they are considered
real Americans and ac-
cepted for what they are
and given some respect
for their own heritage."
U.S. government seemed to
be aimed at teaching-, non-
English speakers to use
English, not at fostering a
truly bilingual society.
He does not see the cur-
rent Administration chang-
ing that policy. "My suspi-
cions are that multi-ethnic
and multi-lingual programs
will not receive as much
federal funding in the next
few years," Dr. Fishman
said. "All the straws in the
wind seem to be pointing in
that direction, toward even
less sympathy on the gov-
ernment's part for tradi-
tional continuity of lan-
guage and culture."
Dr. Fishman pointed out
that "America is a major
seat of Yiddish scholarly
and cultural work today.
There are no loyalties
elsewhere. There is no real
homeland for American
Yiddish writers other than
America. Modern Yiddish
theater, literature, and
music are affected by the
Yiddish writers' experi-
ences in America. It is an
American experience."
And what has Yiddish
done for the ordinary Jews
in America? Dr. Fishman
said the language has pro- Coin Collection
vided them with "a source of
collective pride and a collec- Stays in Israel
tive bond which is a stabiliz-
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Bank
ing factor in their lives. It Leumi has bought a rare
also helped them find a collection of ancient coins,
Jewish way to be Ameri- to prevent its sale abroad.
cans."
The bank is to present the
But, like other ethnic collection, for which it paid
groups in America, Jews are $200,000, to the Israel
losing their mother lan- Museum on loan display.
guage, Dr. Fishman- said.
The coins belonged to the
"They also .lose their late Adolf Reifenberg and
ready access to their the collection is regarded as
ethnic and cultural and one of the most important in
religious heritage," Dr. Jewish numismatics.' It in-
Fishman said. "Many be- cludes unique coins from
come just Americans, the Bar Kokhba period.
watching television and
When the hank heard
hanging around the hot- that Reifenberg's heirs had
dog stand. They follow in decided to put the collection
the standard, American up for sale in Zurich it de-
pattern. And there is an cided to purchase it to pre-
increase in alienAtion vent its removal abroad.
and in divorce and in al-
cholism and in other,
modern, American prob-
lems of social dislocation.
"Some ultimately return
to Orthodoxy-in order to find
greater meaning in their
lives, but, without Yiddish,
they are walking along a
difficult, untried and
dangerous path because Or-
thodox Jews have tradi-
tionally spoken a Jewish
vernacular."
"The only Jews who fully
escape many of modern
society's problems," Dr.
Fishman said, "are those
who cling to their Yiddish
as part of their total, Jewish
identity in order to keep the
completeness of their
Jewish heritage alive."
Does the American gov-
ernment worry about this
loss of ethnic identity,
which is so widespread,
even after the "ethnic
boom" of the late 1960s? Dr.
Fishman said that, sadly,
the government no longer
seems to care. He noted that
many so-called bilingual
programs funded by the
-
it
Friday, August 28, 1981
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