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It’s Not Just English and Spanish in the United States

August 19, 2014 -By: -In: In the News / Awards, Language - Comments Off on It’s Not Just English and Spanish in the United States

Spanish undeniably forms a large part of the linguistic landscape in the United States, and it’s still growing. After English, Spanish is the second-most spoken language in the United States. However, English and Spanish certainly aren’t the only languages in the land. If we discounted English and Spanish for a moment, what other languages do people speak?

Would you guess that Korean is spoken in Georgia? Vietnamese in Oklahoma? Arabic in Michigan? Or German in Utah?

Besides English and Spanish, here are the strongest linguistic communities by U.S. state:

Alabama -> German
Alaska -> Yupik
Arizona -> Navajo
Arkansas -> German
California -> Tagalog
Colorado -> German
Connecticut -> French
Delaware -> French
Florida -> French Creole
Georgia -> Korean
Hawaii -> Tagalog
Idaho -> German
Illinois -> Polish
Indiana -> German
Iowa -> German
Kansas -> German
Kentucky -> German
Louisiana -> French
Maine -> French
Maryland -> French
Massachusetts -> Portuguese
Michigan -> Arabic
Minnesota -> Hmong
Mississippi -> French
Missouri -> German
Montana -> German
Nebraska -> Vietnamese
Nevada -> Tagalog
New Hampshire -> French
New Jersey -> Italian
New Mexico -> Navajo
New York -> Chinese
North Carolina -> French
North Dakota -> German
Ohio -> German
Oklahoma -> Vietnamese
Oregon -> Russian
Pennsylvania -> Italian
Rhode Island -> Portuguese
South Carolina -> French
South Dakota -> Dakota
Tennessee -> German
Texas -> Vietnamese
Utah -> German
Vermont -> French
Virginia -> Korean
Washington -> Vietnamese
West Virginia -> French
Wisconsin -> German
Wyoming -> German

It’s interesting to think about the historical and immigration patterns of different communities with this information. Examples include: French in Louisiana, Russian in Oregon, German in North Dakota, Dakota in South Dakota, French in Maine, Yupik in Alaska, Navajo in Arizona and Italian in New Jersey.

Were there any that surprised you?