PER CENT OF FOREIGN-BORN EMPLOYEES (EXCLUSIVE OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING RACES) WHO SPEAK ENGLISH[240] ═══════════════╤═══════════════╤═══════════════╤═══════════════ NATIVITY │ MALE │ FEMALE │ TOTAL ───────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────── Total │ 55.6│ 38.6│ 53.2 Bulgarian │ 20.3│ 80.0 (only 5)│ 20.6 Danish │ 96.5│ 98.3│ 96.6 German │ 87.5│ 80.2│ 86.8 Greek │ 33.5│ 12.3│ 31.5 Hebrew, Russian│ 74.7│ 75.7│ 75.0 Herzegovinian │ 14.6│ │ 14.6 Italian, south │ 48.7│ 25.8│ 44.4 Magyar │ 46.4│ 24.0│ 45.2 Norwegian │ 96.9│ 91.8│ 96.5 Polish │ 43.5│ 15.5│ 39.1 Portuguese │ 45.2│ 27.0│ 37.8 Slovak │ 55.6│ 26.6│ 55.1 Slovenian │ 51.7│ 30.3│ 50.9 Swedish │ 94.7│ 94.2│ 94.7 ═══════════════╧═══════════════╧═══════════════╧═══════════════ Footnote 240: Rept. Imm. Com., Imms. in Mfg. and Min., Abs., p. 198. It is thus apparent how large a proportion of our foreign-born laborers have not even taken the first essential step toward assimilation. This evil is, of course, practically overcome in the second generation. Almost all of the native-born persons of foreign fathers, six years of age or over, speak English, though some races show from 6 to 8 per cent who do not. The percentage who can speak English naturally increases with the length of residence in the United States, until a percentage of 83.1 is reached for all foreign-born employees who have been in the United States ten years or more. But even in this group a very low percentage is found among the Cuban and Spanish cigar makers, of whom almost three fifths are unable to speak the English language. The age of the immigrant at the time of arriving in the United States has a great deal to do with the ability to speak English. The percentage of those who were under fourteen when they arrived who can speak English is nearly twice as large as that of those who were fourteen or over. The reasons for this are the greater adaptability of the younger immigrants, and their greater opportunities of going to school. The relatively poor showing of the females is probably due to their greater segregation, which prevents them from coming in touch with Americans or older immigrants of other races.