The Future of the Spanish Language in the Unted States Essay

The Future of the Spanish Language in the Unted States - Essay Example Surveys have showed that nearly all US Spanish speakers are indeed Hispanic and this population is increasing at a tremendous rate within the United States. It was in the year 1989 that the Hispanic populace was around 20.1 million within the country which was in essence a 39 percent increase to the figure that was calculated in 1980 Census, at 14.5 million. The rate at which the US population increased during this period was estimated at 9.5 percent but the Hispanic population grew at 7.5 percent. Some studies suggest that Hispanic immigrants who move towards the United States in the wake of seeking better opportunities in life do not make an effort to learn English. They rather focus on their own language – a fact that both works to their advantage and disadvantage at the same time. (Estrada, 1988) The benefiting aspect is that they remain in constant touch with what is happening back home and they can move out and gain acceptance within their own society. The limitation of not learning English is that since English is a universal language, they must out on similar opportunities to gain jobs and the like within United States. One important pointer for consideration lies in the fact that Spanish language is taken up by a teenager if his/her parents force him/her to take up the language within the realms of the United States. Since the young ones have been born and bred within the States itself, they do not feel the inclination to learn Spanish and thus do a great disservice to their own language. They are more inclined to find out more or just have a somewhat easy understanding of the English language as it facilitates them in their day to day tasks and activities. (Garcia, 1983)