Guess which US immigrants improve their English skills fastest

Guess which US immigrants improve their English skills fastest

WRITTEN BY
Nikhil Sonnad
OBSESSION
Language
January 25, 2018

Donald Trump doesn’t think languages other than English belong in the US. During his 2016 presidential campaign, he criticized Jeb Bush for speaking “Mexican,” because “this is America.” He also wants people’s English-speaking skills to determine whether they get to move to the United States.

It is true that many immigrants to the US may not speak English well upon arrival. It is true that that can make it harder for them to work and succeed in the country. It is also true, though, that they will inevitably pick it up. Does country of origin make a difference in their ability to do so? Trump would like a stricter immigration policy on countries he thinks are “shitholes,” in part because he doesn’t think they’ll fit in. He thinks immigrants should be from rich, Western countries like Norway. We can test the idea that immigrants from certain places assimilate better by breaking down English improvement by country.

Quartz analyzed US census data to find out to see how immigrants improve in English, focusing on people who arrived between 1995 and 2000, and measuring the self-reported change in their English ability from 2000 to 2015. There, the biggest gain of all is among the small group of immigrants from Cape Verde—a poor African nation that surely Trump does not believe is “like Norway.”

Donald Trump doesn’t think languages other than English belong in the US. During his 2016 presidential campaign, he criticized Jeb Bush for speaking “Mexican,” because “this is America.” He also wants people’s English-speaking skills to determine whether they get to move to the United States.

It is true that many immigrants to the US may not speak English well upon arrival. It is true that that can make it harder for them to work and succeed in the country. It is also true, though, that they will inevitably pick it up. Does country of origin make a difference in their ability to do so? Trump would like a stricter immigration policy on countries he thinks are “shitholes,” in part because he doesn’t think they’ll fit in. He thinks immigrants should be from rich, Western countries like Norway. We can test the idea that immigrants from certain places assimilate better by breaking down English improvement by country.

Quartz analyzed US census data to find out to see how immigrants improve in English, focusing on people who arrived between 1995 and 2000, and measuring the self-reported change in their English ability from 2000 to 2015. There, the biggest gain of all is among the small group of immigrants from Cape Verde—a poor African nation that surely Trump does not believe is “like Norway.”

More:
https://qz.com/1184530/which-immigrants-in-the-us-have-been-the-best-at-learning-english/