Most Popular Foreign Languages Spoken in the United States

Since the beginning of its history, the United States has been known as the “Melting Pot.” The U.S. is truly a country of mixed cultures that seem to mesh and flow. The mixture of cultures and races is what truly attracts new citizens and tourists to the U.S. Here you’ll find all sorts of religions, cuisine, traditions, beliefs, and of course, languages. Though English is the most widely spoken language throughout the U.S. and the world, due to the continuous growth of foreign citizens living in the country, there are many languages that are now commonly spoken.

According to the Modern Language Association (MLA), the below three languages are the most widely spoken foreign languages in the U.S:

1. Spanish – Unsurprisingly, Spanish is the most commonly spoken foreign language in the United States. With the influx of Mexican and South American citizens, this statistic is no surprise. In fact, many believe that over time, Spanish may become more widely spoken than English. According to MLA statistics, over 28,101,052 people in the U.S. speak Spanish. The language is widely taught in schools and there are several different programs and books available that are available for help learning the language.

With the popularity of the Spanish language comes the variety of cuisine, festivals, and traditions that are associated with those who bring their native tongue to the U.S.

2. Chinese – Since Chinese immigration to the U.S. is high and remains so, Chinese stands as the second most common foreign language spoken. With more than 2,022,143 Chinese speakers, the language makes up a large percentage of the other foreign languages spoken and heard in the U.S. The popularity of this language in the U.S. is something that doesn’t come by surprise, especially with the popularity of Chinese cuisine and culture.

Chinese is a very hard language to learn due to its use of Chinese characters which can be quite confusing for non-native and even native speakers. The concept of characters is quite foreign to native English speakers.

3. French – Statistics have determined that about 1,643,838 people residing in the U.S. speak French, a language that is also commonly taught in schools. Most of those people speaking French in the U.S. speak Canadian-French. French is said to be very similar to Italian and Spanish so if you’ve mastered one of these languages, you’re likely to be able to pick up on French quite quickly.

If you want to know how to learn French, many say it’s as easy as reading books and listening to native speakers. Online programs and software are also helpful in mastering French.

With such a variety of foreign languages spoken in the U.S., the benefits of learning them are quite obvious. For one, learning a foreign language allows you to be able to speak and communicate with a more diverse group of people. Learning a foreign language can also help to advance your career since employers nowadays are looking for employees who can speak more than just English. In all, learning a foreign language comes with plenty of perks and is well worth the time and effort.