This little girl has me crying. Karla Ortiz, speaking now.

[phylny]

"Soy americana."

[Beaverhausen]

1. me too

[phylny]

2. The American dream.

Just like my great-grandparents, who came over from Italy in the very late 1800s.

[gwheezie]

3. My grandparents also

They got off the boat, never assimilated fully. They learned to speak passable English but not to read and write. They thrived in the Italian American neighborhood where they ran a small mom and pop store. It was their children who realized the American dream.

[phylny]

4. It's the same with most immigrants.

The person coming to America as an adult doesn't usually learn English, especially at that time, the woman who stayed home in the her neighborhood rarely learned to be fluent. Their children, though, were bilingual. I work with many Hispanic families now, and I tell them that their children speaking both English and Spanish is a real gift