According to the US Census, almost one-fifth of the entire population over age five in America speak a language other than English when at home. The same statistic skyrockets to about fifty percent in the Miami area alone.
Another interesting example of diversity is that there’s an estimation of about 170 different languages spoken on the streets of New York City. In fact as a result, New York City mayor Bloomberg ordered one hundred city agencies to start providing services in six foreign languages in addition to English. These additional languages are Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Russian.
So the reality of today’s environment in North America is that ethnic and cultural diversity is here to stay. Whether it’s inside offices, factories or outside with customers, we will likely encounter more people from different cultures than ever before.