My German born grandfather, Henry EGGERS, did not teach his 2 sons to speak German.
He was so proud of being an American, and wanted his sons to do well, so did not
speak German to them. New country, new language. Evidently his wife who was American
born had parents who felt the same way. She could understand some of it, but not sure
if she could write it.
I always feel like it was a shame not to teach the children so that they could have the
advantage of being bi-lingual.
Joy
My grandfather and his siblings were all born in the United States. They
spoke German at home, but their mother [who was from the Osnabrück area] would
not allow them to speak anything but English if there were English speaking
guests in the house. She thought it would be offensive to the English
speakers.
My mother and her sisters did not learn any German, and I never heard my
grandfather speak German and didn't realize he could do so until I got involved
in genealogy.
Don Roddy