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Meltingpotisaplacewhereimmigrantsofdifferentculturesorracesformanintegratedsociety.Itisaconceptthatanumberofethnicgroups,culturesandreligionsinasocietywillfusetogethertoproducenewculturalandsocialforms.TheideawascommonintheUSAinthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury,anditisexemplifiedinthemottoonAmericancoinageepluribusUnum:oneoutofmany.ThefoundingoftheUSAwasnottheendofmigration;instead,itwasthebeginningofit.Newsettlerskeptcomingintothenewcountry.Inthe19thcentury,largenumbersofimmigrantscamefromEurope.MigrationfromothercontinentslikeAsiaandLatinAmericabelongstoalaterandthepresenttime.Peopleenteredthenewlandforvariousreasons.Somecamejustforabetterlifeorfuture,somecametoescapereligiousdiscriminationorpoliticaloreconomicdisasters,andsomeotherscameastheresultofbraindrain.Inthelongrun,Americabecamethefamous“meltingpot”toustoday.Theimmigrants,thenewcomers,broughtwiththemtheirownlanguageandcultures.MostofthemwereverykeentobecomeAmericans,andleavetheoldlifebehind.BecominganAmericanmeantlearningtouseEnglish.Sotheylearned—somequicklyandwell,someslowlyandbadly,andsomenotatall!However,theirchildren,senttoEnglishspeakingschools,alllearntEnglish,andtheirchildrengrewupwithEnglishastheirmothertongue.Englishwastheofficiallanguage,thenationallanguage.EnglishwasasAmericanastheflagandthenationalanthem.AtthehistoryoftheUnitedStatesindicatesthatthiscountryhasoftenbeencalledameltingpot,wherevariousimmigrantsandethnicgroupshavelearnedtoworktogethertobuildauniquenation.EventhoseoriginalAmericans,theIndians,probablywalkedalandbridgefromAsiatoNorthAmericasomethousandsofyearsago.So,whoaretherealAmericans?Theansweristhatanyandallofthemare!Moreover,nomatterwhereyoucomefrom,couldalsobecomeanAmericanshouldyouwantto.ThenyouwouldbecomeanotheradditiontoAmerica'swonderfullyrichnationofimmigrants.TheUnitedStatesiscurrentlyshiftingfrombeinganationofimmigrantsofmainlyEuropeanoriginstooneofimmigrantsfromotherpartsoftheworld,suchasAsiaandLatinAmerica.Thenumberofrecentimmigrantshasincreasedrapidly.TheydesiretoescapeeconomichardshipandpoliticaloppressionintheirnativecountriesaswellasthedesiretoseekabettereducationandamoreprosperouslifeinAmerica,thelandofopportunity.AlthoughtherearefrequentconflictsbetweentheculturestheyhavebroughtwiththemfromtheoldcountryandthosefoundinAmerica,mostimmigrantslearntoadapttoandlovetheiradoptedland.Americanshavealsolearnedmuchfromthecustomsandideasoftheimmigrantsandtheyareofteninfluencedbytheminsubtleandinterestingways.Immigrantsbringtheirnativecultural,political,andsocialpatternsandattitudes,variedbackgrounds,aswellastheirethnicarts,sports,holidays,festivals,andfoods.TheyhavegreatlyenrichedAmericanlife.Forimmigrantsfromallpartsoftheworld,theUnitedStateshasbeenameltingpot,inwhichtheforeignershavesometimesremainedculturallyandlinguisticallyinwhattheywereintheirnativelandsevenastheymovetowardbecomingcitizensoftheUnitedStates,acountrywhosepeopleshareacommonculturaloutlookandsetofvalues.Themeltingpotdoesnotmeltawayallrecollectionsofanotherwayoflifeinanotherplace-norshouldit.Onthecontrary,immigrantsshouldmaintainthelanguages,skills,religions,customsandartsoftheirownheritage,evenwhiletheyareworkingtowardsenteringthemainstreamofAmericanculture.WhatarethehistoricalreasonsfortheuniquepositionofEnglishinUSA?Inthesixteenthcentury,English,oneoftheGermanicgroupsofIndo-Europeanlanguages,wasthenationallanguageofEngland,usedbyafewmillionspeakerslivingintheBritishIsles.EarlyexplorersandsettlerstookitwiththemtotheNewWorld,asindeedotherEuropeansettlerstooktheirlanguages.WhentheUnitedStatesofAmericagainedindependenceofBritishrule,Englishbecameitsofficiallanguages,andservedasanewnationalAmericanlanguageforimmigrantsfrommanycountriesoftheworldhavingmanymothertongues.Englishisthelanguageofpower,ofprivilegeandopportunity,ItbecameinthehalfcenturysincetheSecondWorldWar,alinguafrancaofinternationalcommunication;thelanguageofscienceandtechnology,ofinternationalbusiness,andofmanyenterprisesrightacrossnationalborders.