To the editor:

Monica Gonzalez writes passionately in the May 7 Public Forum column about how we should all be more tolerant of those whose language of birth is not English, saying that those who think to the contrary are attempting to “force Hispanics to abandon their culture.” No, not at all. “Culture” encompasses, among many other things, arts, customs, skills, ideas, manners, religion, tastes, etc.

Yes, Ms. Gonzalez, ideally we should all be bilingual. But that is impractical idealism.

Several years ago my wife and I had the greatest opportunity of a lifetime in which we worked and lived for five years in Micronesia, that huge area of the western Pacific comprised of several thousand atolls and islands and many languages. The United States sent many Peace Corps volunteers to these islands. The indoctrination of these volunteers was to send them to an “outer island” to live with natives who had little or no knowledge of English. The volunteers became functional in the local language then returned to the district center to spread their knowledge and skills. Absent their ability to speak and write the indigenous language, the whole purpose of their being there would have been a waste.

Failure to require adequate English language ability is the equivalent of a life sentence of low-paying jobs and mass mediocrity – or worse.

Jim Winn,

Lawrence