Immigrants Find Wealth Despite Knowing No English

Attached is an article from the times that explains the ability that a Mexican immigrant speaking no english was still able to amass a fortune. This is a rather interesting read because it takes the perspective of how this gentleman, as well as many other non english speaking immigrants have been able to find success and the common elements behind their success stories. Their success was all dependent upon capitalizing in areas that were densely populated with those that spoke the language of the entrepreneur. Very interesting read that is applicable to what we have been discussing in class regarding immigration and corresponding co-factors.

NY Times - Immigrant Entrepreneurs Succeed Without English

Ni Hao

When I was about seven, I asked my mom if I could go to Chinese school. She basically brushed it off and as a result the only Chinese words I know are "ni hao." My mother is a 1.5-generation-immigrant, which I actually did not really realize she was in fact an immigrant until our discussion in class a few weeks ago. She moved here from Taiwan when she was two. She speaks perfect English, and English is actually the only language she knows. I was curious about why my mom did not know Chinese despite Chinese being technically her first language, so I asked my grandparents about their immigration and learning English. They basically said that they did not consciously choose to not teach their children Chinese, but it just happened naturally because they worked with, went to Church with, and lived near mostly white people. My grandparents could read and write English before they came here, but my mother and my uncle did not know any English at all. My grandparents said that after my uncle started school, it took him one month to learn English. My uncle beginning school was also a bit of an impetus for them to speak English in the home. Within three or four months they spoke about half Chinese and half English. After about two years, they spoke mostly English, and within four years, they spoke all English.
This is a rare case with immigration, to assimilate so easily and quickly. Their age of arrival was pretty young, their time in the US now is long, and they are better educated than most. They said their first priority was "being able to communicate" so their switch to English just happened unconsciously. But I honestly kind of wish they had tried to preserve the language.

Any thoughts on language or assimilation?