Monday, April 9, 9:30 PM
By Dan Whitcomb LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Desperate to find employees who speak English, business leaders in a California town inhabited by a large number of immigrants have launched a campaign of $ 4.5 million to persuade residents to learn the language. The campaign launched in the city of Santa Ana, where more than three quarters of the population are Hispanic and less than 15 percent speak English at home, offers free English classes in higher education institutions and courses to follow at home .
"Employers have come to us saying, 'Look, we do not have enough to hire people who speak English,"' said Dale Ward, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce Santa Ana "Two thirds of our workforce not qualify for a novice working in industries emerging, they do not speak English or do not speak it well enough, "he added. Santa Ana, a city made up of working class people and located 64 kilometers south of Los Angeles, has long been a magnet for immigrants Mexico and other parts of Latin America.
About 76 percent of the population is English speaking, 11 percent Asian and 11 percent are of Anglo-Saxon. Ward said some 350,000 residents in Santa Ana, the most densely populated city in California after San Francisco, about 313,000 at home speak a language other than English. Ads reporting on the advertising campaign were stuck on bus stops, grocery stores and elsewhere. With slogans like "You work and work but you can not do?" Ads try to convince immigrants that they can improve their quality of life in the United States if they learn English. Ward said that the goal of the campaign is that about 50,000 residents of Santa Ana achieve a competent level of English for 2009. The local school offers free classes has received 366 phone calls since the advertisements were published in February, he said.
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