While Newt Gingrich can’t decide if Spanish is ghetto or if he should use it to try and get Latino support, Santa Ana in Orange County, California is putting $4.5 million into getting residents to learn English.

The effort, which aims to have 55,000 residents learn the language over the next four years, includes an aggressive advertising campaign with messages posted at supermarkets, bus depots and elsewhere touting the advantages of learning a new language.
Teams of people also have been dispatched to the streets to promote free English classes, which are offered by the Rancho Santiago Community College District.
“Business owners are screaming for workers, but they need them to speak English,” said Mike Weisman, a chamber board member and partner at DGWB Advertising and Communications, which created the ad campaign.
Census statistics show that at least 51 percent of city residents “speak English less than very well.” More than half the city’s employees speak Spanish, and nearly every retail business has Spanish-speaking employees.

This is not an English only campaign but rather a way to get the mostly Spanish speaking population to speak also English. I have to commend the city’s efforts including the fact that they are offering free classes. Hopefully the classes have flexible hours so that learning another language can be used to its maximum benefit, to push oneself forward but never forgetting where you come from.

Via / North County Times