Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Aumentó uso de idioma español (The use of the Spanish language is increasing.)

El español es el idioma extranjero dominante, pues lo habla un 12,2 por ciento de la población.

De los hispanohablantes, un 52,7 por ciento "habla muy bien el inglés", en comparación con el 47,3 por ciento que lo habla con mucha dificultad.

California tuvo el mayor porcentaje de personas que hablan otro idioma en casa, con 42,5 por ciento, seguido por Nuevo México (36,5 por ciento) y Texas (33,8 por ciento).

La Oficina del Censo advirtió, no obstante, que cerca de uno de cada diez hogares en California sufre "aislamiento lingüístico", lo que significa que las personas mayores de 14 años en esos hogares "tienen alguna dificultad para hablar el inglés".

Estas cifras sobre el uso del inglés y el bilingüismo tendrán un impacto en los programas de educación pública y en los medios de comunicación no anglosajones, según observadores.

Los latinos conforman el 14,8 por ciento de la población estadounidense, según el Censo.

* * * * *

Spanish is the dominant foreign language (within the U.S.); it is spoken by 12.2 percent of the population.

Of the spanish speakers, 52.7 percent "speak very good English" in comparison to the 47.3 percent that speak it with much difficulty.

California had the greatest percent of in-home foreign language speakers, with 42.5 percent, followed by New Mexico (36.5 percent) and Texas (33.8 percent).

The Census office noted, however, that nearly one of every ten homes in California suffers from "linguistic isolation," which indicates that people over 14 years of age in these homes "have considerable difficulty speaking English."

According to observers, these figures on the use of English and bilingualism have an impact on public education programs and on the non English (non Anglo-Saxon) media.

According to the census, Latinos contrive 14.8 percent of the population of the United States.
(Just so you know: The above text was taken from  http://www.radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias/19545 and translated by the author of this blog)

* * * * *

The issue of the Latin influx in America has many faces, some quite harsh to behold. Not only do other cultures influence our language, but they also affect various facets of our society like education, tradition, economy, etc. Do you all have any opinion or experience with this topic? What are your thoughts on the influx of Hispanic immigration into the U.S.? Do you hold to the "If you're in America, speak American!" approach or do you feel we should embrace the influence of other cultures on our customs and languages? Honest answers are always appreciated and never regarded with negativity; however, please feel free to present opposing opinions with courtesy and respect for varying opinions.  

No comments:

Post a Comment