"[86]
[Sidenote: How the Children Lead]
This is a picture of progress in assimilation to be remembered, and the
conclusion is admirably expressed. Assimilation is made easy when the
wheels of contact are oiled by kindness and sympathy. The children lead
the way to Americanization. Mr. Brandenburg gives this report of a
conversation overheard in an Italian tenement in New York, the parties
being a mother, father, and the oldest of three daughters: "Said the
mother in very forcible Tuscan: 'You shall speak Italian and nothing
else, if I must kill you; for what will your grandmother say when you go
back to the old country, if you talk this pig's English?' 'Aw, g'wan!
Youse tink I'm goin' to talk dago 'n' be called a guinea! Not on your
life. I'm 'n American, I am, 'n you go 'way back an' sit down,' The
mother evidently understood the reply well enough, for she poured forth
a torrent of Italian, and then the father ended matters by saying in
mixed Italian and English: 'Shut up, both of you. I wish I spoke English
like the children do,' Many parents have learned good English in order
to escape being laughed at or despised by their children."[87]
[Sidenote: The Young American]
The language is not classic, but it is that of real life such as these
children have to endure.
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