No. of Recommendations: 7
But Americans are evil if we want PERMANENT RESIDENTS to speak English.
Are there official programs to teach immigrants English, that are free and accessible? 100 years ago Ford Motor had a lot of immigrant workers, and provided English language instruction for them.
Here's a bit from the net sifter: percent of US population that are first generation immigrants, by year.
Historical First-Generation Immigrant Share of U.S. Population
1890: 14.8% (Previous peak)
1910: 14.7%
1930: 11.6%
1970: 4.7% (Record low)
1980: 6.0%
1990: 7.9%
2000: 11.1%
2010: 12.9%
2020: 13.7%
2024: 15.6%
2025 (Jan): 15.8% (53.3 million
It may seem there are more people speaking other languages, because the US has not had such a large portion of the population being first generation immigrants, since before the highly restrictive immigration laws enacted in the 1920s.
That record low at 1970, did not prevent a metro Detroit area company running TV commercials in Polish, because they found it beneficial to do so. Now, with a record high immigrant population, Lowe's uses signage in both English and Spanish, because they find it beneficial to do so. With such an influx of new residents, seems it would be beneficial for the government to be as accessible as possible to these new residents.
My dad's family spoke Québécois, excursively, in the house, in New Jersey, but they spoke English to outsiders. Same thing now, 100 years later. I can have lunch at the local Tim Horton's and hear Arabic or Hindi spoken by the group at the next table, after they ordered their food and coffee in English. I remember my mom, 60 years ago, complaining about hearing people in a store speaking other-than-English among themselves, but she had her share of kinks. I keep hoping that we can rise above tribalism, and not be offended when a bit of Arabic or Spanish, floats through the air to our ears....I keep hoping.
Steve
