Not many would know this, but there are over 30 languages spoken in the United States. Although its official language is English, some Americans also speak other languages like French, Italian, and Portuguese.
The Land of Opportunity- as is popularly referred to is home to over a billion people from different races, cultures, and backgrounds. This means that many might not be so accustomed to the normal major language of communication; English.
The United States is also very large in terms of land mass, housing people from all types of backgrounds, religions and cultures, which is why the country is sometimes referred to as a land of opportunity.
In some cities, not even an ounce of English is spoken, but instead, a more minor language like Tagalog is. With over 2,000 languages in the world, here are the top 10 spoken in the United States.
German
After the establishment of the colonies in America during the early 1800s, German was introduced and had since then grown to be one of the most spoken languages in the United States today. Although the language saw a decrease after the World War still has about 920,000 speakers today.
There is still some region in the country to be considered German-populated, like Milwaukee, where the German culture, food, and language is very popular. They still teach German in schools today to keep the language alive in the country.
Arabic
Might not sound like a language you’d likely come across in the United States, but Arabic is a very popular language in the country today. With close to 1.1 million speakers, Arabic is one of the top 10 languages in the U.S
Some States like New York and Michigan celebrate the Islamic culture, promoting some of the traditions, the religion Islam and the language Arabic. It is also a major in some colleges and has grown quite popular in the country with a 29% increase between 2010 and 2014.
Russian
A lot of Russians migrated to the United States between 1970 and 1990. These immigrants quickly settled and spread their culture, teachings, and language across the country, dominating areas like Alaska, California, and Pennsylvania.
Russian is one of the most recognized languages in the world, which helped it widespread in the U.S. It might not seem like a commonly spoken language in the country, but thanks to schools and research institute that teaches, promote and employ people who speak the language, it has grown in the country.
Korean
Even as a culture Korean has become dominant within the last few decades. The language, people, and culture have become an international identity luring people’s interests which have helped grow the Korean culture globally, even in the United States. With over 1.2 million speakers in the country today, Korean has now become one of the top spoken languages in the U.S.
Vietnamese
The tragedy of the Vietnam War brought many immigrants into the US. This group of people soon took over some parts of the country spreading their culture and languages. Texas is one of the major cities with Vietnam speakers. With over 1.4 million speakers in the U.S today, Vietnamese is one of the most commonly spoken languages.
Tagalog
Might look like a small language, especially since it originated from the Philippines. Tagalog is oftentimes called Filipino, because of how similar I’d sound to the Philippine’s official language. It has spread across the United States and is one of the most spoken languages in the United States.
The language sometimes sounds like the Philippine majorly language, but it can be differentiated. In the U.S today, there are over 1.5 million people who can speak Tagalog fluently, making it one of theist popular languages in America.
French/ French Creole
It is no surprise that a small part of the US is majorly occupied by the French, given their history with the European Giants. Dating back to the 1700s when Thomas Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase, the birth of French Creole took place.
During the slave Era, native French speakers mixed with West African slaves French speakers, to give a more different type of french language, French Creole. It was a very popular type of French back in the day, but recently the original French spoken by the European origin actor and thought in school has now fully taken over, with about 750,000 French Creola speakers and 1.4 million French speakers.
Chinese (Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese)
Most of the languages in the United States today are a result of immigration in the early days. America has always been the land of opportunities, and because of this, citizens from all over the world move to the United States in search of a better life. One of these is the Chinese.
In 1800, during the gold rush, a lot of Chinese moved to California to have a taste of the gold market. Then later San Francisco had the first Chinatown with a large settlement of Chinese people, popularizing the Chinese culture and language. Today there are over 3 million Chinese speakers.
Spanish
No surprise that Spanish comes in second, given its neighboring countries. Some might even consider it the second language in the U.S, and as more Spanish people continue to migrate from neighboring countries, the language continues to spread across the nation.
Spanish is also taught in schools today, right from junior high. Most people living in America prepare to learn Spanish alongside English as they believe it stands as the second and most easy foreign language to learn in the U.S.
English
The clear winner in the game of language in the United States is clear the English Language. Adopted as early as the birth of the country, it is now spoken by 78.9% of the country’s population. Americans have always been associated with English since their Colonial master the British Empire.
Though there is no official language in the country, English is the de facto nationale language. America even had its own type of English; American English which they adopted from the originators of British English.
Language can be a very useful and important weapon today, which is why a lot of emphasis on learning more than one major language is good, and if considering which to learn, you can easily pick one from the list.