The United States of America is one of the most multinational states in the world. Among its 300 million inhabitants, dozens of languages, dialects and dialects are used. Despite the dominance of English in the vast majority of states and territories, the state language in the United States, adopted at the federal level, does not exist.
Many states have declared English an official language in their own territories, but Hawaiian, Spanish and French have the same rights in a number of places.
Some statistics and facts
- English is considered a native language by about 82% of the US population.
- 97% or the vast majority of those living in the States are permanently fluent in English to one degree or another.
- The official language of office and education in the country is also English.
- In the Hawaiian archipelago, Hawaiian is also considered official, on the island of Puerto Rico and in the state of New Mexico - Spanish.
- Spanish is considered native in the country by about 40 million people. The language is especially widespread in the southern United States in the states bordering Mexico.
- Russian remains very popular not only in Brighton Beach in New York, but also in Alaska.
- The Russian language is widely spoken as an academic subject in large American universities. Russian literature and history are also popular with students.
Trends and Prospects
The proportion of US residents who speak English is decreasing every year. In 1980, there were almost 90% of them, and at the beginning of the twentieth century already 82%. Actually the state language in the United States, English is being superseded first of all by Spanish, and then by Chinese.
The indigenous people of the States, Indians and Eskimos, use their own dialects in everyday life and carefully preserve them. The most widely spoken of these is the Navajo language, which is spoken by more than 175 thousand people. The Indians who took part in the Second World War served as radio operators and negotiated on the air, without fear that a potential enemy would be able to understand them.
The Eskimos use the Yupik dialect, and in Alaska it is spoken by about 16 thousand inhabitants of the American north.
Note for tourists
In any city in the United States, all signs, advertising posters, public transport stops and other important information are in English. It can be duplicated in French, Spanish or Hawaiian, depending on where you are.
