Thursday, May 15, 2008

English Usage Among Hispanics in the United States


From The Pew Hispanic Center.

The report "documented that nearly all Hispanic adults born in the United States of immigrant parents report they are fluent in English. Nearly all Hispanic adults born in the United States of immigrant parents report they are fluent in English. By contrast, only a small minority of their parents describe themselves as skilled English speakers. This finding of a dramatic increase in English-language ability from one generation of Hispanics to the next emerges from a new analysis of six Pew Hispanic Center surveys conducted this decade among a total of more than 14,000 Latino adults. The surveys show that fewer than one-in-four (23%) Latino immigrants reports being able to speak English very well. However, fully 88% of their U.S.-born adult children report that they speak English very well. Among later generations of Hispanic adults, the figure rises to 94%. Reading ability in English shows a similar trend."

Check out the full report at http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/82.pdf.