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Joseph Salmons, Professor of German at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote a fascinating paper debunking the myth that immigrants in the late 19th century and early 20th century learned English upon arrival.  His research focused on immigrants from Germany who settled in Wisconsin. 

Contrary to the prevailing thought that these immigrants immediately assimilated into American culture by learning English, he found that German immigrants thrived without ever learning English for generations.  This is in sharp counterpoint to the rhetoric of English-only proponents who believe that modern-day Spanish speaking immigrants are behind the language learning curve and refusing to assimilate by learning English.

The article on UW-Madison’s website ends with a comparision between early 20th century immigrants and today’s newly arrived population:

Salmons says their study suggests that conventional wisdom may actually have it backwards — while early immigrants didn’t necessarily need English to succeed and responded slowly, modern immigrants recognize it as a ticket to success and are learning English in extremely high percentages.

To read the fascinating description of the life of early German immigrants and find a link to the entire paper, click here.