Guest Column
US Census continues to shine the way
- By Jose Cancela.
- Hispanics USA
New census numbers came out last month, with some bad news for the Si Tv crowd.
One out of five people in America speak a language other than English at home. For two-thirds of them, that language is Spanish. In total, that adds up to some 33 million Spanish speakers, up from 28 million in 2000.
Some might be surprised. They shouldn't be. That merely continues a trend that's been growing for decades. The percentage of people in this country able to speak a language other than English is growing, while the segment that can speak only English is shrinking.
What is truly surprising about the new numbers is that more than three-fourths of the youngest Hispanics, the ones aged 5 to 17 years old - of which the vast majority was born here - speak Spanish at home.
Let me say that again: the vast majority of them were born here. Yet 76 percent of them speak Spanish. They don't have to; they do it because it's important to them. And that means it should be to you, too. Because if you really want to connect with them, Spanish is the way to do it.
Latinos are breaking the mold, clinging to their Spanish-language roots.
The bulk also speak English, most of them "very well." That shouldn't be surprising. For the most part, we're talking about second- and third-generation Hispanics. In fact, more than one of every three of them was born here of parents who were born here as well. These aren't new immigrants. They are Americans twice over. They didn't learn to speak Spanish somewhere else and then come here to learn English. Both they and their parents went to school here. They learned English. But they're also speaking Spanish.
So what? Some argue that since they understand everything you want to say when you say it in English, there's no need to bother with Spanish.
They're wrong. English connects with our brains, but Spanish connects with our hearts. Think about it, the same thing is true for Italian-Americans, Jewish-Americans and other descendants of immigrants. Their language skills may not go beyond "pass the parmesan," but the words "mama mia," strike a chord. They say, "home" and "family," "heritage" and "love."
It's the same with Spanish. And that's backed up by research. A study by the Roslow Research Group done this year found that commercials in Spanish are 55% percent more effective at increasing ad awareness levels than commercials in English. And, ads received in Spanish are 4.4 times more persuasive than ones received in English.
Together, the sheer numbers and the fact that so many U.S.-born Hispanics continue to speak Spanish might help explain why English-language networks are seeing steady declines in their ratings, while the Spanish-language networks show double-digit growth in the key 18- to 34-year-old demographic, and Spanish Language Radio Formats continue to expand at a rapid pace.
Think about it: Today's kids are tomorrow's 18- to 34-year-olds. And today's 18- to 34-year-olds are their parents. If it's important to them to speak Spanish, it ought to be important enough for you to speak to us in the language most of us make love in, Espaņol.
Jose Cancela is Principal of Hispanic USA Inc; a full service Hispanic market consulting firm.
jose@hispanicusa.net
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