According to Wikipedia, at least in the past, Mandarin is the number one native language of all people. Furthermore, and more offensive to Americans, the number one country for most native English users is listed as India, not the United States. Apparently Indian Wikipedians (probably with the consent of the many anti-American Wikipedians who frequent that site) have difficulties with the term native. A native language is not a secondary language, and all native users of English should be fluent in it (not only use a few catch phrases here and there).
Mandarin, eh?
Taste like chicken, don't it?
At least the United States has not gotten that far with Spanish, though in some areas Spanish is more widely used than English (usually in border areas, though there are exceptions, such as Miami--which is a sort of border area, but not a land border). Then again, the Chinese have millennia of ethnic cohesion (at least in the east of the country), while the United States is far more reliant on a common language to keep the nation together.
Most Chinese in the USA are from a Cantonese speaking background.
All you need to know about speaking Chinese can be found on the menu...........I'll have the #23, please.................
Yeah, but how many Greeks speak Urdu?
Well, that is only 550,000,000 people. A mere drop in the bucket.
What are they worried about. It is clear things will work themselves out naturally.
I am considering learning and haveing my young children learn Mandarin (along w Spanish). Two questions: Is it difficult to learn? And is it important to learn? Or will all these Chinese speak English anyway?
Cantonese is a much nicer sounding language. Both Cantonese and Mandarin are tonal but Mandarin sounds harsh and it seems that a speaker cannot help sounding officious. Cantonese makes for a much more pleasant sounding speech and the speaker necessarily sounds much less like he is spouting the official line.