>I think it really varies. Some groups (e.g. Germans)
>tended to assimilate quickly and lose their national
>identity (cf. Pennsylvania "Dutch" which is a clever
>makeover of Deutsch). Other, like Hispanics, tend to
>stay in their own cultural communities - even in Now
>York.
Depends on which "Hispanics" you're talking about. Puerto Ricans, who've been here for generations, generally speak native English, and a lot of them have moved to the suburbs. More recent arrivals, like Dominicans, are more likely to live in predominantly Dominican neighborhoods. But the younger ones are fluently bilingual; I've overheard conversations among Dominican teens that mix Spanish and English in the same sentence - and I once heard a trio of young Dominicans talking with each other, one of whom was speaking Spanish, one of whom was speaking English, with the third mixing the two.
Doug