Quote:
Originally Posted by Capsicum
How common is it for ethnic organizations to totally disregard language ties and focus on cultural attributes without needing to think you need to learn the language to be "one of us" at all?
I think you'd miss out on a lot of ties to the (non English-speaking) ancestral country if you lack language connections (I mean, do these associations watch/read or discuss the "old country" media, unless you have some members translate and discuss in English or something), but if you just think of these clubs as more "meetups for people who share the same genealogy" kind of thing, or members of a shared church or religious group or something (if the service is acceptably conducted in English), then I can see how language becomes less important.
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I'd say the vast majority of long established ethnic communities in North America (for whom the immigration tap has been reduced to a trickle or completely shut off) have already transitioned to a non-linguistic identity and culture.
Ties with the old country become less important with each generation, and often you see media produced for and by them on this side of the ocean either bilingual or in English only to reflect the community's reality. I have the Toronto multicultural megastation CHIN (hello Johnny Lombardi) on my cable package and the variety programming for certain communities (especially the older ones) often features a host speaking in the old country's language and another speaking in English. They often banter back and forth in both languages.
My city has a decently large Portuguese community (massively from the Açores islands, so basically everyone knows each other). Through friends I've occasionally been at the events they run and they generally take place in a mix of Portuguese and French. If someone gets up on stage and sings it will be in Portuguese but if someone addresses the crowd with thank yous, etc. it most definitely won't be only in Portuguese. Most of the kids who of the same generation as mine speak little to no Portuguese. Especially those who only have one Portuguese parent.