U.S. Latinos lose Spanish over time, study finds

Another story that disproves the theory of some people who insist English will be lost here and this will become a Spanish speaking country. DP

Yvonne Wingett and Matt Dempsey, The Arizona Republic

AZCentral.com: Jessica Olguin dances salsa and cumbia. She belongs to a Latino-based club at Phoenix College, and most of her friends are Hispanic.

But the 19-year-old Latina doesn't speak Spanish.

"I've even taken Spanish classes to learn," the central Phoenix student said. "It kind of seems like I'm not taking a part of my past, my ancestry with me because my parents didn't teach it to me."

Hispanics such as Olguin are quickly losing Spanish with each generation in the United States, according to a new study, and the grandchildren of immigrants are likely to speak only English. By the third generation, only 17 percent of Hispanics speak Spanish fluently, and by the fourth generation, it drops to 5 percent.

The study challenges the perception that Hispanics resist learning English and that heavy immigration from Spanish-speaking countries threatens the American identity.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.