An ethnography about language use, identity and economic survival and mobility in a Canadian manufacturing factory. Inquiring into the meaning of languages for Portuguese immigrant workers, Goldstein explores the questions of why workers do or do not learn official languages of their host countries, why workers do or do not maintain their mother tongues, or why workers are or are not able to exploit their linguistic resources in local labour markets. By examining the context of second language learning, Goldstein challenges researchers and teams to re-examine assumptions about how to best help students in the process of learning a second language.