The U.S. work force will be about 17 percent foreign-born, up from about 15 percent today, according to statistics gathered by the independent Migration Policy Institute. With the huge baby boom generation retiring in great numbers, immigrants will be in high demand. Foreign-born workers will be snapped up for job openings at both ends of the wage scale — as software engineers, registered nurses and college teachers, and as cooks, janitors, home-care aides and food-preparation workers. The better-educated newcomers will speak English, of course; but an older generation and newcomers with little education might find the new language daunting. \

Wwhen our preschoolers of today start job-hunting around 2020, which group will have more choices: will it be the young adults who speak one language, English, and are proud of it? Or will it be those who had the fortune to absorb a second language back when that skill came as naturally as climbing, sliding and tumbling in the park? Who, encouraged by that success, perhaps went on to learn a third language, like so many students worldwide do? We’re betting that the bilingual kids have the edge. Speaking two or more languages opens all kinds of opportunities for young people. Learning a second language also helps one appreciate different cultures, which grows more important as the globe shrinks.

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