Assimilation, 2016-Style: Come to America, Learn Vietnamese
2nd June 2016
A story in the Los Angeles Times describes a cultural crossroads that would have sounded like science fiction 60 years ago. It’s about immigrants coming to California from Latin America, getting jobs in Orange County restaurants, and deciding to learn the language to get ahead. And by “the language,” I mean Vietnamese.
The basic reasons for this are simple enough. Orange County has more than 10,000 Vietnamese-owned businesses; a great deal of the available labor pool came from Mexico and other points south; the businesses hire who’s available; the workers know a useful skill when they see one. But there are a lot of culturally specific details as well.