Does Decline in Spanish Fluency in Hispanic Households Signal a Cultural Loss or Growing Inclusion in American Society?

*Good question. We’ll be talking about this for years to come – the lamentable decline of Spanish and our place in mainstream America. But the question also provides a third alternative: Are culture and language zero-sum things? Or can they adapt to form something new? I think that’s the real question. VL

By Nicole Akoukou Thompson, Latin Post

Spanish is the most popular non-English language in the U.S., even among non-Hispanics (37.6 million people ages 5 years and older speak Spanish at home), and it is one of the fastest-growing languages in the world.

That said, while the use of Spanish has grown and been incorporated into many aspects of life in the U.S., researchers project that the number of Hispanics speaking Spanish will drop from three-fourths to about two-thirds by 2020. Also, 34 percent of Hispanics will speak only English at home by 2020.

As the U.S. Hispanic population grows because of immigration and high birth rates, younger Latinos are less likely to speak Spanish compared to preceding generations. Hispanic millennials and youth are assimilating, and Latinos are releasing cultural practices in favor of American trends, following the same pattern as Italian, German and Polish speakers.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo courtesy of panamaguy.com]

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