Essay 4776

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

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Word to the wise: Learn English

¿No hablas inglés? Do something about it. You can’t keep pressing “No. 2” for Spanish forever. Only one in four Latino immigrants speaks English very well, according to a new report released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center. That’s loco.

The bitter hostility aimed at illegal immigrants stems, in great part, from immigrants’ failure to learn English. And until more legal and undocumented immigrants speak the language, they’ll be muffled out by loud protests of angry Americans.

English proficiency isn’t too much to ask. If we settled in France, how long would we last if we insisted on speaking English? Would a Japanese businessman go to China and keep talking Japanese, expecting everyone else to understand him?

Other immigrants, including Italians and Germans, came to this country, struggled and drew the ire of earlier settlers. But they slowly changed their fate in part by learning English. History does repeat itself.

Eighty-eight percent of second-generation Hispanic adults speak English very well, and by the third generation, only 25 percent speak Spanish at home, the Pew study found.

We know many immigrants work two and three jobs, and have little time to study. But learning English pays off. It’s the difference between a chance at a bright future, possibly college and white-collar jobs or being limited to industrial and labor positions that are low-paying and back-breaking.

“You could double your earnings,” said Lisa Thakkar, with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

Immigrants should be reassured by older immigrants that adopting English doesn’t mean they have to give up speaking their native language or that assimilation into the American culture means tossing out their centuries-old traditions. English is simply how we communicate, and if immigrants can't express themselves, then they can’t fully blame Americans for filling in the void with age-old stereotypes.

Worse, if immigrants don’t learn English, they forfeit the chance to become American citizens: There are 8.5 million legal immigrants in the United States eligible for citizenship, but most can’t speak English well. In Illinois, more than half the adult immigrants in Illinois speak only limited English.

For those of us who keep whining “Why can’t they speak English?” here’s your chance.

Volunteer to teach an English-as-a-second-language class. Push for immigrant groups, churches and community centers to hold more sessions. Call local leaders and ask why a state Legislature bill that earmarked $25 million for English classes for legal immigrants was slashed during budget negotiations.

We have to find a way to bridge the language divide.

Por favor.