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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">===========================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 04 November 2008 - Volume 09<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br>
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From: <span class="ep8xu"><span><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Mark Williamson</span></span></span><span class="hccdpe"> </span><span class="ldacoc"><<a href="mailto:node.ue@gmail.com">node.ue@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="hccdpe">LL-L "Etymology" 2008.11.04 (08)
[E/Spanish]</span><br>
<br>
106 million is incorrect. There are certainly a lot of<br>
Spanish-speaking people in the United
States, however the number is<br>
really more like 30-50 million (the Census says 34 million, but many<br>
undocumented migrants aren't accounted for despite the best efforts of<br>
the census bureau). It is likely that between one tenth and one fifth<br>
of Americans are Spanish speakers; 106 million would be one third.<br>
<br>
Also, language shift is common in Spanish-speaking communities in the<br>
United States.
The main reason that Spanish is still so widely spoken,<br>
I think, is because there is a continuous influx of new Spanish<br>
speakers. Although it is maintained in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and<br>
5th-generation (or more, in the case of some New Mexican, Californio,<br>
and other families) American families, it is much less typical to find<br>
that Spanish is the main language of daily life beyond the 3rd<br>
generation (grandchildren of immigrants).<br>
<br>
I read a study a few months back about how much Spanish is maintained<br>
over the generations, and it said that only 19% of third generation<br>
Mexican Americans were as proficient in Spanish as they were in<br>
English, and that something like 75% of third generation Mexican<br>
Americans had very limited proficiency in Spanish.<br>
<br>
Mark<br>
<br style="">
<br style="">
</span></p>