While just over half of first-generation Asian immigrants say that they speak English "very well, " 95% of those born in the U.S. say they do.

WSJ: America's New Tiger Immigrants: Asians in the U.S.

"Alwi Shihab may speak English and Arabic very well, " a political analyst says of the urbane new Foreign Minister, a former professor of comparative religion at Harvard.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Indonesia: Too Many Cooks?

"They speak English and they are very well educated, " said Julia MacLauchlan, director of Microsoft's worldwide product group.

FORBES: White '97