Rise in English proficiency among U.S. Hispanics is driven by the young

*No surprise. I’ve heard that the immigrant mother tongue is lost in two generations. So many implications here. It’s the reason Univision ventured into Fusion, and bought a chunk of El Rey network. It also invalidates so many “English only” arguments. Researchers say it’s inevitable. What do you think? VL

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By CJens Manuel Krogstad, Pew Research Factank

English proficiency among U.S. Latinos has risen over the past 14 years, an increase almost entirely due to the growing share of younger Hispanics born in the U.S., according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

When asked about their language use and English proficiency in 2014, some 88% of Latinos ages 5 to 17 said they either speak only English at home or speak English “very well,” up from 73% who said the same in 2000.

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And among Latinos ages 18 to 33, the share who speak only English at home or say they speak English “very well” increased from 59% to 76% . . . READ MORE

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[Photo by Kate Gardiner/Flickr]

Suggested reading

Silent Dancing is a personal narrative made up of Judith Ortiz Cofer’s recollections of the bilingual-bicultural childhood which forged her personality as a writer and artist. The daughter of a Navy man, Ortiz Cofer was born in Puerto Rico and spent her childhood shuttling between the small island of her birth and New Jersey. In fluid and incisive prose, as well as in the poems she includes to highlight the major themes, Ortiz Cofer has added an important chapter to autobiography, Hispanic American creativity and women’s literature.

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