Despite decades of research findings to the contrary, there is still a common belief that bilingualism is bad for children and unpatriotic, and that the only way to be a true American is to leave behind any other language and allegiance that might be in your background. Should Asian American first or second generation children be obligated to speak their native language at home, in order to retain their native heritage and tongue? According to my experience being an Asian-American and many written autobiographies from other Asian-American students attending the University of California at Berkley, yes I believe it is an obligation in order to retaining our native heritage and language.
First off, being a minority in the US, there isn't many Asian American classes in school or educational centers to learn about our heritage and native language from. Many children, for example, have only a passive knowledge of their heritage language. …
