Times have change, the innovation in technology, the population growth and the need to learn new languages in search of personal and professional growth have inspired people to improve and adapt to their environments.
Hispanics in the U.S. are one of the ethnical groups showing growth. English proficiency among immigrants has been discussed for years by the Pew Research Center.
According to the Pew Research Center, 33.2 million Hispanics speak English almost perfectly, about 12.5 million knows how to defend with the language and 3.3 million admits that it is very difficult to cope with English.
In 2000, 59% of Hispanics spoke English fluently, but by 2013 the percentage increased to 68%.
Meanwhile, the group of Latinos using Spanish in family conversations at home, ranged from 78% to 73%, showing that English is an important part of their daily lives at home.
Although, there was a decline in the percentage of using Spanish at home, currently the number of
Hispanics who speak it, is important: 38.5 million according to Pew.
This is because many Hispanics were born in the US, and although they are U.S citizens, they are trying to keep their roots alive.
This tendency between Hispanics in the United States, is also an important factor in the growth of English. 89% of citizens, from Latino heritage, born in America, speak English fluently (as of 2013), this is mainly because they have grown on environments where only English is spoken (home, school, college, work).
In 2013, 34% of foreign-born Latinos admitted speaking English “Very good”, little changed since 1980 when 31% admitted to master the language.
According to Pew, there are several factors of that influence on the Hispanics groups:
For example:
– Place of birth
– Age
– Genres
– Levels of education
By age, 21% of Hispanics who do not speak English are 65 or older and are mostly women (57%)
If we focus on levels of study, 75% of Hispanics who do not speak English, did not graduate from(or high school) school, those who graduated from college or have higher education speak English perfectly.
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