内容来源：分享美国 地址链接：http://go.usa.gov/crjqB

美国国家科学、工程和医学科学院(National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine)最近的一项研究表明，来到美国的新移民正在以前所未有的速度和广度融入美国社会。[请见英文报道]

这不单指获得美国公民身份。新移民达到房屋自有、英语语言能力、教育和职业多样性等基本指标的速度如此之快，促使他们的子女在受教育程度和就业水平上与那些土生土长的美国人的子女不相上下。

两位南亚移民的子女，鲍比·金达尔(Bobby Jindal)和尼基·海利(Nikki Haley)，先后当选州长。欧巴马(Obama)总统是肯尼亚移民之子，位居美国最高首脑。在“财富500强”(Fortune 500)公司当中，超过40％的企业是由第一代或第二代移民创立的。

是否有某种“秘方”能够加快“成为美国人”的进程？也许真有。哈佛大学(Harvard University)社会学教授玛丽·C·沃特斯(Mary C. Waters)认为，存在着“几个明显的美国优势”。[请见英文报道]

• 出生公民权法意味着任何在美国出生的人都自动成为美国公民，与世世代代在美国扎根的公民享有同样的权利和责任。
• 美国的教育系统有足够的灵活性，学生在尚未掌握英语或不具备与同龄人等同的教育水平时也可以开始上学。该系统的宗旨是帮助他们尽快赶上进度以获得高中文凭。
• 合法移民不会在进入就业市场时面临在其他一些国家可能会遇到的障碍。劳工法和经济形势有助于创造入门级工作岗位，鼓励移民立即开始融入经济体制。
• 民权措施，如平权行动(affirmative action)以及禁止歧视和促进多样化的法律，也有助于移民迅速为工作场所接纳及被大学录取。

在“成为美国人”的进程中，移民家庭的确发生了改变。大约85％的在外国出生的美国人在家讲英语以外的其他语言。他们的子女绝大多数英语流利，而且到第三代时，英语会是他们的首选语言。

而且在这个过程中，移民也在改变着美国，无论是在当地还是在更广的范围。足球已经成为一项大职业联盟赛事，沙沙酱(salsa)现在销量已超过番茄酱(ketchup)，贝果(bagel)也已经变得比甜甜圈(donut)更具美国特色。

在过去，美国被描述为一个“大熔炉”，以某种方式将移民吸收到主流文化当中。但其实这个过程更像煲汤，多种食材加入高汤后使其更加汤浓味美。

What’s the secret that transforms newcomers into Americans so fast?
Immigrants to the United States are integrating into American society as fast and as broadly as ever, according to a recent study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

It’s more than just obtaining U.S. citizenship. Newcomers are reaching benchmarks like homeownership, English-language proficiency, education and job diversity quickly enough that their children are attaining levels of education and employment on a par with those whose parents are native-born.

Two children of South Asian immigrants — Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley — serve as the governors of their states. President Obama, the son of a Kenyan immigrant, holds the highest office in the land. More than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by first- or second-generation Americans.

Is there some kind of “secret sauce” at work that speeds up the process of “becoming American?” Perhaps. According to Mary C. Waters, a professor of sociology at Harvard University, there are “several distinct American advantages.”

• Birthright citizenship laws mean that anyone born in America is automatically a citizen, with the same rights and responsibilities as someone whose roots go back generations.
• The U.S. educational system is flexible enough that children can start school without having mastered English or having the same level of education as their peers. The system is designed to help them catch up as quickly as possible to get their high school diploma.
• Legal immigrants do not face the same barriers to entering the job market as they would in some other countries. Labor laws and the economy have helped to create entry-level jobs that encourage them to immediately begin their economic integration.
• Civil rights practices like affirmative action and laws that ban discrimination and promote diversity also help immigrants become rapidly included in the workplace and accepted into universities.

It’s true that immigrant families are transformed as part of “becoming American.” About 85 percent of foreign-born Americans speak a language other than English at home. Their children overwhelmingly become fluent in English, and by the third generation, English is their primary language.

But in the process, immigrants are transforming America, at the local level and beyond. Soccer has become a major league sport, salsa now outsells ketchup, and the bagel has become more American than the doughnut.

In the past, America was described as a “melting pot,” where immigrants were somehow absorbed into the dominant culture. It’s really more like a soup, with many ingredients working together to enrich the basic stock.