I have German traditions, I suppose from Alsace Lorraine [where my gr- grandmother Guise was from, her husband, a Kronmeister, was from Bavaria]. He had his children speak English at home, as they were Americans now, he told them. But they did learn some German. We carried on the tradition of opening family Christmas presents on Christmas Eve; the adults would put up and decorate the tree that night, after the kids were in bed, and on Christmas morning the tree would be up, decorated, with the presents from Santa underneath. And we take it all down on New Years' Day. We also had a silly word, having the "goo-gooks", when you are blankly staring at something. Not till many years later did I figure out it was probably from a German word gucken [or something similar] which means "to stare". This is no doubt something still in the family from my German gr- grandparents. We also had the tradition of how the family lost everything in the Thirty Years' War, and how "terrible, just terrible" it was, and that was over 300 years ago! Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Jan 27, 2008, at 7:38 PM, Linda H. Gutierrez wrote: > Where did you find this article? I found it very interesting and > informative and I would like to see the entire book. The issues > mentioned of an official language vs no official language > apparently have been more a part of US history than I realized. We > always had the opportunity to learn another language when I was in > school, mainly French in grade school and junior high, but in High > School, Spanish was also offered and I THINK German - it's been > many years! > > I am definitely a supporter of bilingualism. My kids are fully > bilingual and it offers them many opportunities for their futures. > > This article also offers some insight as to how our ancestors, when > they immigrated to the US, were able to get along. Clearly, no > matter where they settled, they were most likely to encounter > others who spoke their native tongue or a dialect thereof. That > Alsatians usually also spoke German must have been important in > some areas where they might have settled. While it was most likely > easier that they and their children learned English, no doubt it > contributed to the loss of culture over the generations. How many > of us whose ancestors immigrated in the early to mid 1800's can say > that traditions in their homes as they were growing up stem from > their ancestors? Now we are "hungry" to learn more about the lives > of our ancestors! > > Linda > in Costa Rica > Monroe County, NY Records and Family Genealogy > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~monroenys/ > Monroe County, NY History > http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~monroenys/ > >