Amecia, the “land of immigrants”, has always had people of many different nationalities and languages. A survey indicates that ethnic enclaves (少数民族聚居地)，found particularly in the central cities, have kept the language and culture of American immigrants. Some local residents can do quite well in their native language, without having to bother learning English. In fact, almost 14% of Americans speak a non-English language at home. Yet only 3% reported that they spoke English “not well” or “not at all”. That means that slightly more than one out of 10 Ameicans could be considered bilingual (双语的). Besides that, many high school and college students --- and even some elementary school students ---are required to take a foreign language as a part of their course. ①
