Most Common Languages in the USA

By: Eric Nelson Posted on Wed, 26-02-2020

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Did You Ever Give a Thought About It: What is the Most Common Language in Your State?

It may look as if only one or two languages at most are spoken around you, but you are wrong! In a city, at least more than 5 languages are spoken (if the city is small) and if you do comparison to the bigger urban areas language count can exceed to more than 50!  That’s an amazing count!

The USA is a classic country with lots of ethnic groups residing by. Americans do not only stick to speaking English but languages are categorized according to the region, ethnic groups, division of county and so on. A nation that strives to become one of the most powerful countries of the world, is the most diversified country of all.

The Sheer Culture and Diversity in Language

More than 1million Americans belong to varying backgrounds. If you enter a Mexican household in Texas, you will find them embracing their native tongue rather than communicating in English. Despite how well-spoken they might be, these ethnic groups are quick to respond in their native tongue. You can see small scale entrepreneurs who massively communicate in their native tongue. If need be they do hire professional translation services, to maintain their flow work but still, it's prudent to take the help of translation providers instead of trying to fix the thing on their own.

It’s ironic, despite English is spoken at a wide level, still, there is no official language of the USA, and it isn’t the most common language at all. Each state is capitalized by a different language for instance;

Spanish – Mexico

Latin immigrants had made so far back in the day and settles at various hub spots. Throughout the southwestern states, Spanish has long existed on these lands for a while now.

Been on the rise for the past few decades, you will see Spanish speakers almost all over the southern states. Proper communities have formed over the years. Even as for school electives, Spanish is the most popular choice so far. Imagine, 37million Spanish speakers in one country. Ironically even Spain doesn’t have so many Spanish speakers!

German - Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky & South Carolina

Hold on a second! How come German is spoken in so many states? It sounds surprising while according to history the first immigrants were from Germany. And guess what? There are more than 49million Americans who are descendants of German ancestors. That's quite savvy, imagine you have a great-great-grandfather who was a German, now that is pretty exciting.

Although introduced by the colonies, after World Wars, the natives settled down and to date, German is the second in command (next to Spanish).

French – Louisiana, North Carolina, Maryland, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire

Mostly popular in New Orleans (French Quarter) from prehistoric times, French is considered to be a language of sophistication. Till this date, approximately 1.3million speak fluent French.

The story dates back to the 1700s, came the French wave and they made a settlement in the south. According to history some of the notoriously popular slave markets were patrolled in the bayou and the traditional coastline was racially mixed with the west Afrikaans language. Many international schools offer French as an elective language as well. 

Chinese – New York, Washington, Arkansas, Missouri, and Utah

One of the world's most popular languages, especially in the USA, when Chinese immigrants paved their way to settle on the American lands in the 19th century. The gold rush was compelling enough for the Asians to come along across the ocean. Currently, more than 5million Chinese Americans happily reside all over the USA. 

San Francisco indeed was the first official Chinese settlement of Chinatown.so even if you can’t speak Chinese, you can still enjoy the original Kung pao chicken from any of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown.

Arabic – West Virginia, Tennessee, and Michigan

Many Arabian settlers had come and gone and many settled like other immigrants in the USA. One might say the USA is a house for the immigrant population since the past few years many people fled from Syria, Palestine, and Jerusalem and took refuge in Canada and the USA. However, due to uptight political conditions, the presence of Arabic speakers is questionable in the USA. 

Let's count over 900.000 Arabic speakers in the country, and the instability between the USA government and Gulf Lands puts this ethnic language in jeopardy.

Korean – Virginia, Alabama, Georgia

Yes, all these are southern states but Koreans make up for fifth among the largest ethnic group. However, despite being in majority to the popularity, there are over 1million Korean speakers. 

With K-pop culture influencing the youth, people are learning more about the K-dramas, movies, etc. in the short Korean film industry is on the rise in the USA, which altogether is influencing the youth of the country. Korean culture, no doubt, is setting its fine roots through the influx.

Tagalog – California, New York, Hawaii

Contrary to popular belief, Tagalog is quite known among the regions of the USA. Although it is the official language of the Philippines, the original version these days is known as Filipino.

With almost 1.6million Tagalog speakers, you can find majority in roaming through the coastal areas. Many unsung war heroes are settled here and never moved back, considering the USA as their home. However, it's easy to find the majority of Filipino speakers in universities and commercial hub as translation need has aspired their role play.

Vietnamese – Texas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Kansas, Iowa and Mississippi

Right at the edge of the cold war, Vietnamese immigration was put to a halt in 1975. However, since then, you can see several immigrants settling down in the USA, for good as after the Vietnamese war ended, many were able to reunite with their families.

The majority of the Vietnamese-Americans have settles into permanent communities in Texas.

With 1.4 million Vietnamese speakers, this language is quite fond of the local regions. Interaction with the communities is far easier and more welcoming for non-Vietnamese speakers. 

Tlanguage is Ever-evolving

To think the USA will ever stop growing in terms of language is a fool's play. This list barely covers the languages whereas there are dozen more native speakers found in minority.  America is a beautiful mosaic of colorful languages and culture that will keep growing if laws remain in favor of the public. If you are a business entity, it is advised to become aware of the regional language and acquire professional translation services to stay up-to-date with every situation.

Let the translation roll the tongue and culture in the language that you speak.