In the United States, the adoption of the English language by Latinos is constantly growing, primarily driven by the new generations.
Thus, seven out of 10 Latinos over 5 speak English fluently, but the same proportion no longer speaks Spanish at home.
The revelation comes from a study conducted by Pew Research Center, which shows that in 2021, 72% of Latinos over 5 spoke English fluently, compared to 59% in 2000.
Latinos born on US soil are driving this phenomenon, given that between 2000 and 2021, births increased from 81% to 91%.
On the other hand, there are Latino immigrants.
In this case, the rate of fluent English speakers is lower, at 37%.
But, if the total Latino population is taken, 41.7 million are fluent in the language.
A decline in the use of Spanish has offset the adoption of English by Latinos.
According to Pew Research Center, the proportion of Latinos who speak their native language at home declined from 78% in 2000 to 68% in 2021.
Among the US-born, the proportion speaking Spanish at home is still lower, dropping from 66% to 55% in the period studied.
“Nearly all Latino immigrants (93% in 2021) speak Spanish at home. Although that proportion has declined, the number of those who do has increased from 24.6 million in 2000 to 39.3 million in 2021″, the agency explains.
The departments of human development and family sciences at the universities of Oklahoma and Iowa call this type of loss among second and third-generation immigrants of their mother tongue “shared language erosion.”
It is a process in which adolescents improve their English language skills and simultaneously lose or fail to develop their heritage language. At the same time, their parents acquire English much slower, as the Los Angeles Times reported.
This phenomenon can result in losing a person’s sense of connection to their culture and people, including family.
With information from Bloomberg