Germany wants immigrants to speak German at home

[Anthea]

Reuters

Merkel allies want immigrants to speak German at home
(Reporting by Noah Barkin; Editing by Mark Potter)

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Bavarian allies have caused outrage by suggesting immigrant families that want to remain in the country should be obliged to speak German at home.

The Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party to Merkel's conservatives and a partner in her coalition government in Berlin, made the proposal in a draft policy paper that is due to be approved by CSU leaders on Monday.

In the paper, the party says: "People who want to remain here on a permanent basis should be obliged to speak German in public and within the family."

The proposal comes amid a sharp rise in immigration levels to Germany, driven by arrivals from eastern European Union members such as Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as a surge in asylum seekers fleeing the war in Syria.

Back in October, leading Munich-based newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, reported that Bavaria could be forced to use tents from its annual Oktoberfest beer festival to house the large number of refugees.

Some members of the CSU are worried the rise in immigrants will lead traditional supporters of the party to flee to the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a new party which preaches a tough line on immigration. The CSU was the driving force behind a new law earlier this year that clamps down on immigrants who abuse Germany's generous social welfare system.

The CSU proposal on speaking German in the home was swiftly denounced by the other parties in Merkel's government, including a senior official from the chancellor's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

"It is not the business of politicians whether I speak Latin, Klingon or Hessian at home," Peter Tauber, general secretary of the CDU, said on Twitter.

Yasmin Fahimi, Tauber's counterpart in the center Social Democrats (SPD), who share power with Merkel, called the proposal "totally absurd".

"The state has no role to play in deciding what language people speak within the walls of their own home," Fahimi told German newspaper Bild.

Because of its aging population and low birth rate, Germany desperately needs more immigrants to ward off a demographic crisis that poses a threat to the economy and state pension and healthcare systems. But many Germans are uncomfortable with the idea that their country is turning into a "melting pot" for foreigners seeking better jobs and lives.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/ ... CC20141207

[Piling]

Lol, in Germany there is a dialect for each regions, German people don't even speak the same German at home as in public.

Moreover, migrants' children generally go to school and forget generation after generation their parent's language. Speaking fluently many languages is the best.

[Anthea]

Lol, in Germany there is a dialect for each regions, German people don't even speak the same German at home as in public.

Moreover, migrants' children generally go to school and forget generation after generation their parent's language. Speaking fluently many languages is the best.

Children are able to adapt quickly and often learn different languages easily

As in Germany - the UK has a great many regional dialects

The worry I have is that young children are often dumped in front of a TV and watch programs in their parents language - many UK born children are unable to speak English when they first attend school

Often mothers do not speak English - they cannot help the children - sometimes neither parent is able to read important letters

I teach basic English to refugees - most of my students only get to practise their English when they are with me - I tell them to have times in their own homes when only English is spoken that way the entire family gets to learn at least some English

[Piling]

The funny thing is that Bavarian people speak a very particular dialect and that the rest of Germans hardly understand them.

So they should begin to impose to themselves to speak the official German, what they call 'Hochdeutsch', and not that weird German which sounds like Austrian.

[Shirko]

The size of the immigrants community in a host country, is directly related to the amount of retention of their ethnic language.

[Anthea]

The size of the immigrants community in a host country, is directly related to the amount of retention of their ethnic language.

It is really important that refugees learn the language of the host country

I have seen countless refugees ripped off and cheated by so-called interpreters

Also - people need to keep their mother tongue - after becoming British Citizens many refugees return to their country of origin - the younger family member especially need to learn/retain the parents mother tongue in order to be able to communicate with family members elsewhere