I don’t believe you.

Indians are chatty. They like Americans, and even think that knowing an American is a sign of upward mobility. 20 Indians? It is not likely that all of them are from the same part of India, in which case they will often be speaking in English, Hindi and so on. In your presence, they would most likely change to English completely.

You may want to study your own face in a mirror. What kind of body language do you have? Are you tense, wound-up all the time? You may be the one who is not open to conversation.

Incorrect. While the culture as a whole does revere teachers for what they give to their students, my parents would have never tolerated any sort of ‘special-ed’ classes where it wasn’t deserved. While they would’ve first mulled over the possibility that their child did need special-ed classes, they would’ve raised Cain had I or my brother put in one for no reason whatsoever except that we look “foreign”. And it’s not just my parents- I know plenty of other ‘problem parents’ for teachers and educators in the South Asian diaspora.

What it comes down to is how comfortable any parents feel with asking questions. Not whether they’re South Asian or not.

What irritates me in this discussion is the lack of accuracy and precision within one’s own language whilst discussing whether other people can speak their own native tongues in your presence. I for one, would find it difficult to go to another country and speak only the accepted languages of the country. It matters not whether other people feel uncomfortable or not, but it is a matter of practicality, and if one is fluent in a language, there should be no reason why one should be prevented from using that language if one has the opportunity. Fluency can be lost if the language is never practiced.

There is one incident I shall name, I was standing waiting for a bus and I saw some people looking a little lost looking at the bus time-table. I went over and asked if I could help them. They spoke no English but were French speakers. I had enough French to be able to find out where they wanted to go and to tell them how to get there. In that situation, people might thing I was telling them where the best place to put a bomb is. What is the moral of the story? Learn other languages, it will allow you to help others and give you more of a chance to understand what people are saying. I have only had tuition in Latin and French, but I can take a piece of basic to moderate Spanish or Italian and translate it into English well enough to understand the general idea, and I would be able to follow the general idea of a conversation in either language (depending on the speed of the conversation)

In short, learn your own language before discussing other people’s use of their language. Simple things are important; capital letters, noun/verb agreement, etc.

How do you know that all immigrants come to the US for money? While the % of immigrants who are refugees is fairly low, a good number of folks migrate as part of family reunification, and depending on their country of origin, tend to be older and not part of the labor force or working age population.

At least with Desis, there is no hostility towards using the English language.

You should meet my dadiji!

At least with Desis, there is no hostility towards using the English language. Some Spanish speakers can spend their whole lives in an all Spanish speaking barrio in Nueva York without having to consider speaking English.

When the shoes on the other foot, you would complain as loud as the Americans. LOL. Usually when my brother and I are speaking in Bengali – we are speaking bad about somebody!