4 ms·

The data you're showing doesn't appear to differentiate between "Can read English" and "Can read in some language". Big immigrant population, same with New York

The data you're showing doesn't appear to differentiate between "Can read English" and "Can read in some language". Big immigrant population, same with New York. Having grown up in California I can tell you that there aren't 28% of kids coming out of public school who can't read anything. Edit to add: my own hometown had a lot of people who couldn't speak English. Lots of elderly mothers of Chinese immigrants whose adult children were in STEM and whose own kids were headed to uni. Not to say that's representative, but consider that a single percentage stat won't give you an accurate picture of what's going on.

kortilla 2y ago
Not being able to read English in the US is bad though. It makes you a very inefficient citizen even though you can get by. Being literate in Chinese and not being able to read or even speak English is far worse than an illiterate person that can speak English in day to day interactions.
- swasheck 2y ago
  which is why the statistics need to be careful annotated. lacking literacy at all is a different dimension than lacking fluency the national lingua franca
- t-3 2y ago
  The US has no official language. There are fluency requirements for the naturalized citizenship test, but those can be waived with 20 years of permanent residency. Citizens are under no obligation to be efficient for the sake of the government.
  - kortilla 2y ago
    Yes, there is no official language. There is also no official rule that you shouldn’t be an asshole to everyone you interact with. It’s still easy to be a shitty member of a community without breaking any laws. I would never move to a country permanently regardless of official language status if I couldn’t speak the language required to ask where something is in the grocery store.
- cma 2y ago
  The California tech industry will solve any concerns with this, we'll have Babelfish soon enough.
telotortium 2y ago
Did you go to school in Oakland or Central Valley? That’s where most of the illiterate children are going to school. I’ve never heard of a Chinese student in the US growing up illiterate, even if their parents don’t know English at all.
- 0_____0 2y ago
  South Bay. And I didn't specify but I meant that the people who immigrated from abroad were not English speakers - younger than 50 or so even if born abroad all seemed to be at least proficient in English. We had lots of Hispanic kids but not many who were super super fresh to the country. I'm sure the central valley was a whole different ball game.

kortilla 2y ago

Not being able to read English in the US is bad though. It makes you a very inefficient citizen even though you can get by. Being literate in Chinese and not being able to read or even speak English is far worse than an illiterate person that can speak English in day to day interactions.

swasheck 2y ago
which is why the statistics need to be careful annotated. lacking literacy at all is a different dimension than lacking fluency the national lingua franca
t-3 2y ago
The US has no official language. There are fluency requirements for the naturalized citizenship test, but those can be waived with 20 years of permanent residency. Citizens are under no obligation to be efficient for the sake of the government.
- kortilla 2y ago
  Yes, there is no official language. There is also no official rule that you shouldn’t be an asshole to everyone you interact with. It’s still easy to be a shitty member of a community without breaking any laws. I would never move to a country permanently regardless of official language status if I couldn’t speak the language required to ask where something is in the grocery store.
cma 2y ago
The California tech industry will solve any concerns with this, we'll have Babelfish soon enough.

telotortium 2y ago

Did you go to school in Oakland or Central Valley? That’s where most of the illiterate children are going to school. I’ve never heard of a Chinese student in the US growing up illiterate, even if their parents don’t know English at all.

0_____0 2y ago
South Bay. And I didn't specify but I meant that the people who immigrated from abroad were not English speakers - younger than 50 or so even if born abroad all seemed to be at least proficient in English. We had lots of Hispanic kids but not many who were super super fresh to the country. I'm sure the central valley was a whole different ball game.