Somali Immigrants Learn English

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701173.html

English Key to Jobs for Somalis, City Says, By David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, February 28, 2006; A03

LEWISTON, Maine — Sahra Habib still speaks English in short bursts, with pronouns missing and verb tenses sometimes mangled. But after a job search in which she was rejected by four employers, there is at least one Americanism she can now repeat from memory.

“Don’t call,” she said it goes, “We’re going to call you.”

Hers is the story of Lewiston today, as sky-high unemployment among the city’s 2,500 Somali refugees is adding a difficult new chapter to one of the most unlikely stories in U.S. immigration.

Five years after African immigrants began flocking to this former mill town, city officials say they still are not qualified for many of the jobs the city has to offer. In response, Lewiston is enforcing one of the country’s most aggressive policies aimed at speeding assimilation:  Somalis here often must take English classes, or risk losing some welfare benefits.

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KJ