Hispanic Children

Spanish is the common language uniting Hispanic people, though there are some Hispanics whose native language is French or Portuguese. Spanish is considered a Romance language, with similarities to other Latin-derived languages such as French and Italian. While most Hispanic individuals speak Spanish, there are a variety of Spanish dialects and linguistic characteristics that distinguish speakers from various Hispanic groups. Differences in daily expressions, vocabulary, and accents can be found in the Spanish spoken by different individuals of Hispanic descent.

Many Hispanic children who are raised in the United States are bilingual, able to speak both Spanish and English. Most Hispanic children speak Spanish at home and learn English at school. Hispanic children, however, also have very different degrees of Spanish and English language proficiency, depending on levels of acculturation and family and community environments.