Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has repeatedly mentioned that immigrants to the United States should do what he did to acquire English: Avoid using their first languages and speak, listen to, and read a vast amount of materials in English--a combination he referred to as "immersion." Yet, Schwarzenegger's real path to successful English acquisition was much closer to "de facto" bilingual education: He had the advantage of several years of education in his first language, which provided him with literacy and background knowledge. He also had several sources of comprehensible input in English, including English as a foreign language instruction in his native Austria, English as a second language and content courses in the United States, and a helpful circle of friends. His case is, unfortunately, not very similar to that of a large majority of those adult immigrants to the United States he intends to advise.