More than a quarter of us speak something other than English

This may be the only way our country will become more like other countries; bilingual or trilingual. Although most of those countries teach the other languages, we are importing them.   - - Donna Poisl

BY EVAN WILLIAMS

Albert DeBono studied Latin in his Catholic school-going youth, he notes dryly — and a whole lot of help that’s been. Spanish is more useful at Benson’s Grocery in Bonita Springs.

Roughly 10 percent of his customers were Spanish-speaking when he bought the business 35 years ago, and now at least half are, he estimated.

This trend has played out across the country to varying degrees and in many languages. More than 27 percent of Floridians ages 5 and up spoke a language other than English at home in 2011, according to a Census Bureau report released in August. That’s a 2% increase from five years earlier.
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