"Needless language fear:"WashPost,Jan.8,09 A14

Milton Hernandez wrote his letter to the Editor:

George Galasso's letter,"The Language We Speak in America," reminded me to Benjamin Franklin's concern in 1751 about the large number of German immigrants, who might "Germanize" Pennsylvania. Apparently, not enough Germans spoke English in those days, at least not enough of them to satisfy Franklin. Needless to say, speaking the German language might not be desirable during the Second World War even though it was useful for the military reasons.

As those Germans and other immigrants have proved throughout the years with their assimilation and enriching contributions, Mr. Galasso need not worry about those of us who speak Spanish. Do many of the descendants of those Germans speak their ancestors' native tongue? Hardly! "Qian yi mo hua" in Pin Yin system of romanization in Chinese phonetic equivalent from Chinese characters i.e.changing imperceptibly in English.

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating; Spanish-speakers will become assimilated within a generation or two and enrich America just as every immigrant group before them has done. Actually, many of us have been fully assimilated for a long time." Milton Hernandez said.

As a matter of record,US Air Force Commanding Officer sent me a letter several decades ago encouraging me to speak Chinese to my descendants as a means for them to learn to speak the Chinese language.

In this regard,Mr. Galasso should start learning Italian as a human resource in America but Mr. Galasso will not become an Italian regardless of his preference of Pizza or Spaghetti i.e. "Xi yuan mian tiao" in Pin Yin. This is definitely a joke for readers to understand a bit of fun. Americans of Italian ancestry may or may not like Pizza or Spaghetti. Perhaps they love Chinese food with or without the influence of Marco Polo. Here is another line in the light vein if detected.

Francis Shieh a.k.a. Xie Shihao,trying to be a student of Mark Twain. I would like to encourage more Americans to be able to become language specialists for the needs of USA in the 21st century.
Saturday,January 10, 2009 at 3.32 p.m.