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The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of people in the United States who speak a language other than English at home increased by three times between 1980 and 2019.
reports that: informa que; number of people: cantidad de personas; other than English: aparte de inglés; increased by three times between: se triplicó entre;
About one in five people in America speak a second language at home. That is 68 million people.
about one in five people: apro. una de cada 5 personas; 68 million: 68 millones;
ARABIC: AMONG TOP FIVE
Dina Arid of California, who is the mother of three children, is one of them. She grew up speaking Arabic at home. She said it is true that the country is “a melting pot,” a place where many cultures come together.
grew up: creció; a melting pot: un crisol de culturas; come together: se juntan;
Arabic is one of the five most-spoken second languages in the U.S. Arid speaks mostly English to her children and is trying to teach them a little Arabic.
most-spoken: más hablado; mostly: principalmente; is trying to: está tratando de;
She said some of her cousins “didn't get to learn Arabic”. They “always wished that their parents spoke to them in Arabic more so that they have that language”, she noted.
cousins: primos/primas; didn't get to learn: no lograron aprender; noted: detectó;
SPANISH: MOST COMMON SECOND LANGUAGE
Spanish is the most popular second language in the United States. More than 41 million people — about 12 times more than the other most common second languages — speak Spanish at home.
12 times more: 12 veces más;
Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States. Fifty-five percent of Spanish speakers were born in the United States.
hispanics: los hispanos; largest minority group: el mayor grupo minoritario; fifty-five percent: el 55 por ciento; were born: nacieron;
The other languages in the top five are Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
the top five: los cinco primeros:
Chinese: chino mandarín (lengua oficial de China); Tagalog: tagalo (la lengua más hablada en Filipinas); Vietnamesse: vietnamita (idioma oficial de Vietnam);
SECRET LANGUAGE
Cathy Erway is a food writer based in New York City. Erway is using a language application to improve her ability in her mother’s native Mandarin Chinese. She said her parents used Chinese between them to talk secretly when their young children were listening.
food writer: escritora gastronómica; based in: con sede en; language application: aplicación de idiomas; to improve her ability: para mejorar su habilidad; her mother's native Mandarin Chinese: el mandarín chino nativo de su madre;
The Census Bureau reports that the number of people who spoke only English at home also increased – by about 25 percent – during the same period.
also increased: también se incrementó; by about 25 percent: en aprox. un 25 por ciento; during the same period: durante el mismo período.
I’m Jill Robbins. |
