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"And I dispute your dispute. The evidence is available in Michael Barone's book. In fact, Hispanics 'learn the language' faster than almost any older ethnic group coming in. Do you realize that there were more GERMAN LANGUAGE DAILY NEWSPAPERS in America in 1913 than there are Spanish-language papers today? That alone should tell you all you need to know about how quickly they 'assimilated'."

I, with all due respect, must disagree with you. For example, I work with several Yugoslavians who came over herer within the last 10 years or so, and the first thing they did was learn English, and then applied for citizenship. They are extremely hard-working and diligent. They ask for nothing; they seek no hand-outs or preferences. Thet have embraced the American dream and are better Americans than many native borns. But your comment referred to Germans (now you're talking about my family). Yes, there were (and are) German language newspapers (just like there are Yiddish newspapers, and Polish newspapers, and Greek newspapers: basically, anywhere you have a concentration of a specific group, that group will retain some attachment to its roots; that is natural). HOWEVER, almost without exception, the members of those groups learned English and assimilated rather quickly. Many hispanics (especially Mexicans) do not learn English, and refuse to do so. The Germans, Poles, et als did not demand that the U.S. government print German or Polish on virtually every printed document, but the hispanics do, and they go ballistic if there is any delay in it being done. Moreover, no other ethnic group has a desire to remake America in its own image, but the Mexicans (as a generalization) do: Just look at the multitude of "reconquista" groups there are in the U.S. If that is not an overt invasion and attempt to take over America, I don't know what is.

The evidence does not bear this out. I have seen pretty convincing documentation on the fact that usually not until the THIRD generation did Germans, Poles, and others (especially when they came over prior to 1900) learn English. There were entire TOWNS in the mid-west that did not speak English at the turn of the century.

The available evidence we have---and not anecdotal---suggests that Hispanics learn the language by the 2nd generation.