Foreign language spoken in 20% of U.S. homes

Chicago-Sun Times ^ | October 9, 2003 | AP

[CoolGuyVic]

Foreign language spoken in 20% of U.S. homes

October 9, 2003

WASHINGTON -- Nearly one in five Americans speaks a language other than English at home, the Census Bureau says, after a surge of nearly 50 percent during the past decade. Most speak Spanish, followed by Chinese, with Russian rising fast.

[cmsgop]

Que ?

[TopQuark]

Foreign language spoken in 20% of U.S. homes

That is very true: great many people do not speak English in their homes. They have replaced it with one-syllable exclamations and profanity. Speaking English is now viewed as... elitist.

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[patton]

Bei uns zu Hause, sprechen wir Deutsch.

Or Latin, depending on the day of the week.

Sometimes Korean, where door handles do not break.

We sputter through Japanese, but, to tell you the truth, I hate that language. Did you know the Japanese word for "bed & breakfast" means something entirely different, in Korea?

For variety, sometimes we speak spanish.

My wife and kids love to play with American Sign Language, 'cause the know I don't understand a word.

But nobody in my house utters a word in French.

Rules are rules, you know.

[TopQuark]

Can you adopt me? I'd love to sit at your dinner table.

[patton]

Quo video?

[sneakers]

My 77 year old mum can still speak Polish after all these years. She's a child of Polish immigrants. Does that count?

[sneakers]

OOPs! Didn't really read the article. She doesn't speak it in the home on a regular basis. Nobody else in the family speaks Polish!

[Chi-townChief]

It's probably half of the people here in Chicago. Mayor Daley doesn't sound quite like he speaks English either.

[Thorondir]

Goodbye melting pot; hello chamber pot.

[Steely Glint]

I received a letter from a college student the other day that was written in some new language that I think is based on English. Possibly.

Oh, and my wife and I sometimes speak German at home. Do we count in that ~1/5th?

[Verginius Rufus]

I just know "piwo" (beer), but I figure that will get me by if I ever visit Poland.

[Old Professer]

I just know "piwo" (beer), but I figure that will get me by if I ever visit Poland.

If you had got there before closing time, you would know that the whole word is piwater. :)

[sneakers]

"I just know "piwo" (beer), but I figure that will get me by if I ever visit Poland."

Valuable and useful information! I'll have to try that one out on my mum. My Polish is pretty much limited to about three words!

[Michael81Dus]

Dzien Dobry! What else do you know?

[Polybius]

Nearly 1-in-5 Speak a Foreign Language at Home....

America's leading World War One ace, Eddie Rickenbacker, grew up speaking German at home. So did Lawrence Welk.

In my own family, 5 consecutive generations since the late 1800's have being bilingual in Spanish and English.

What matters is not the language that is spoken at home. What matters is that one be fluent in English.

[sneakers]

Dzien Dobry! - Yep, that's two of'em. I think the other one was (don't know how to spell it!) "swinya" or the Polish word for 'pig' or'swine'. (Don't ask me how I know that one! lol) and (again, I can't spell it in Polish) "yatchem kohum" or "I love you". That's about the extent of it. My mum used to sing us a lullaby in Polish about two kitties. It was so sweet. I used to sing it to my son.