Amparo 1

Hector Amparo

Professor Batty

English 28

Fifty States, One Language

Every immigrant that travels to the esteemed United States of America has their own

individual purpose for making the move. At essence, however most immigrants share the goals

and hopes of a better life. They have heard of the freedom of social mobility, which America

offers to ALL, as well as the intriguing pop culture that exists: the globally renowned film

industry, celebrities, etc. In order to truly evolve and achieve the initial goal of a better life, it is

almost essential that immigrants assimilate into American culture, like the melting pot it is.

Assimilation is the process of absorbing and digesting surroundings to resemble another. With

that being said, immigrants synchronizing into American culture and adopting it does not mean

that immigrants have to abandon their identities, they simply become more “American” when

they do something like learn English for example.

Learning English is the most drastic aspect of assimilation; it dictates one's ability to

survive in society. How can an immigrant chase higher job opportunities without knowing the

language of the workers or employers? If one does not live in a largely bilingual or friendly place

such as California, for instance, can one communicate at a restaurant or supermarket to buy what

they need? It is nearly impossible to complete normal everyday tasks if immigrants are hindered

by things like being unable to speak English to a supermarket employee or read street signs.

Being fluent in English is imperative as not everything can be translated from language to
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language. Street signs demonstrate this thought perfectly. English is not necessary to know that

red lights mean to stop and green the opposite, however many traffic symbols like stop or yield

signs cannot be translated and thus English is required.

Knowing English allows immigrants to become part of the collective consciousness as

they are able to vote and enjoy democracy.

American culture is shared by everyone and it includes the cultures of immigrants’

origins; America is a melting pot united by a common language and beliefs and having

knowledge of these things increases success exponentially. According to the Public Policy

Institute of California “Nearly all foreign-born Latinos (96%) say it is very important to teach

English to the children of immigrant families. In California, ​public opinion survey​s suggest that

residents are willing to pay more to help immigrant children who are not proficient in

English—73% favor providing extra assistance to improve the academic performance of English

language learners.” When parents assimilate and learn English, their children tend to be much

better English speakers, expanding their chances of success. Their children can come home and

ask for help with homework because they are able to read it. Furthermore, a Brookings Institute

study conveyed that “[Higher] proficiency in English among immigrants” directly leads to

“greater academic and economic success” amongst their children. For new citizens, knowing

English has also proven greater “civic involvement and social connection” to their new homes. A

PEW study supports this theory even further, surveying that 89% of Latinos “acknowledged”

that they had to be fluent English speakers to succeed.

Despite English being almost required to survive in America, history shows patterns of

immigrants assimilating without leaving their own culture behind. Rather than refusing to learn
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English, today’s immigrants actually abandon their first language much more readily than

previous generations. German, the language spoken by the president’s ancestors, is a prime

example. Germans arrived in America in population waves during the mid-19th century.

Generations later, German was still being spoken at home; a small percentage were even

monolingual in German despite being American born. Only when America first entered the

world war did German-speakers begin to speak German less and English more.

Now, arriving immigrants speak little English or learn it imperfectly. The children of

these immigrants become bilingual yet English-dominant, with the next generation becoming

strong English speakers hardly speaking their originating language.

Works Cited

“When Immigrants Learn English . . .” ​Literacy Council Frederick County​, 18 Aug.

2017, ​www.frederickliteracy.org/immigrants-learn-english/​.

Hill, Laura. “English Profiency of Immigrants.” ​PPIC​, Public Policy Institute of

California, Mar. 2011, www.ppic.org/publication/english-proficiency-of-immigrants/.