Economy
How Helping Immigrant Workers Learn English Could Transform the U.S. Economy
A large share of the workforce in American cities struggles with English. Here's why investing in language training should be a priority.
Jorge Roldan's English is animated and sprinkled with laughter. It's also pretty good. But when he arrived in New York City from Ecuador in 1986, he hardly spoke a word.
He was 15 years old, then. Now, at 42, Roldan is in a different place. He's an apprenticeship trainer at Local 78, a chapter of the Laborer's International Union of America. Part of his success now has to do with the fact that he has mastered English, he says.