事实上,在美国这块「移民之地」,一直住着来自不同国籍、说不同语言的人口。一九九○年的人口普查显示,几乎百分之十四的美国人,在家里不讲英语。只有百分之三的人宣称他们英语「说得不好」或「根本不会说」。这表示十分之一强的美国人可视为双声带。此外,许多中学生、大学生,甚至小学生在校的学科都必须加修一门外语。除了西班牙文、德文与法文等常选的第二语言外,愈来愈多的学生选修东欧和亚洲语言。当然,并非所有学生都能够学以致用。套句老话:「不用就会丢掉。」尽管如此,愈来愈多的美国人已经开始意识到会说多种语言的好处。
Ethnic enclaves, found particularly in major metropolitan centers, have preserved the language and culture of American immigrants. Some local residents can function quite well in their native language, without having to bother learning English. Regions such as southern Florida and the Southwest have numerous Spanish-speaking neighborhoods. In fact, Spanish speakers-numbering over 17 million-compose the largest non-English linguistic group in America. But Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, Polish and many other ethnic groups add to the linguistic flavor of America. Foreign languages are so commonly used in some ethnic neighborhoods that visitors might think they are in another country!
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