Multilingualism
- From 1980 to 2018, the percentage of Americans age 18 or older who were multilingual rose from 9.2% to 16.9% (Indicator V-08a). In this case, an individual is considered multilingual if they: 1) report speaking a language other than English at home; and (2) characterize themselves as speaking English “well” or “very well.”
- In 2018, the majority (56.2%) of multilingual Americans age 18 or older spoke Spanish or Spanish Creole in addition to English (Indicator V-08b). Approximately a fifth of multilinguals spoke another Indo-European language, and 16.8% spoke an Asian or Pacific Island language. Included among the remaining 6.8% of multilingual Americans (whose home language is labeled “Other” in the graph) are those who spoke indigenous languages of North, Central, and South America; Semitic languages (including Arabic); and languages of Africa. (For details as to the languages included in this category and the others used in Indicator V-08b, see the supporting table).
* Adults are defined as people age 18 or older.
Source: For 1980–2000: U.S. Census Bureau, Decennial Census. For 2010 and later: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
In January 2006, President George W. Bush launched the National Security Language Initiative, which was designed to “dramatically increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese [Mandarin], Russian, Hindi, Persian, and others through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce.”*
Despite the concern about what is perceived as a national foreign-language deficit, however, existing data on multilingualism are of limited use in gauging the true extent of the country’s fluency in multiple languages. This is true for several reasons. First, such data are based on self-reported information—currently, no system objectively measures and registers individuals’ multilingual capabilities. Second, the national trend data covering the greatest length of time, those collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, reflect a concern with immigrants’ ability to acquire English-language skills. Thus these data do not capture those individuals who speak English at home and acquired proficiency in another language via formal education or contact with the non-English language in another nondomestic setting; nor do the data account for those who may have learned a language other than English in their childhood homes (and still speak it fluently) but who do not use that language in their own homes as adults. Moreover, Census Bureau data do not measure the extent of individuals’ proficiency in their non-English “home” language. Finally, data collected by the bureau and other organizations do not reveal what share of the population is fluent in multiple non-English languages.
Indicator V-08a displays the relevant Census Bureau data. While a language question has appeared on almost every decennial census since 1870, only since 1980 have respondents been asked not only whether they speak a language other than English but also how proficient they are in English. Although these data cannot measure the full extent of the nation’s multilingualism, they are some of the best available.
* U.S. Department of State, “National Security Language Initiative,” Fact Sheet (January 5, 2006). The other languages deemed “critical” as of January 2021 are Azerbaijani, Bangla, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.
* Adults are defined as people age 18 or older.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2018 American Community Survey Public-Use Microdata Sample. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
In January 2006, President George W. Bush launched the National Security Language Initiative, which was designed to “dramatically increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages such as Arabic, Chinese [Mandarin], Russian, Hindi, Persian, and others through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce.”*
Despite the concern about what is perceived as a national foreign-language deficit, however, existing data on multilingualism are of limited use in gauging the true extent of the country’s fluency in multiple languages. This is true for several reasons. First, such data are based on self-reported information—currently, no system objectively measures and registers individuals’ multilingual capabilities. Second, the national trend data covering the greatest length of time, those collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, reflect a concern with immigrants’ ability to acquire English-language skills. Thus these data do not capture those individuals who speak English at home and acquired proficiency in another language via formal education or contact with the non-English language in another nondomestic setting; nor do the data account for those who may have learned a language other than English in their childhood homes (and still speak it fluently) but who do not use that language in their own homes as adults. Moreover, Census Bureau data do not measure the extent of individuals’ proficiency in their non-English “home” language. Finally, data collected by the bureau and other organizations do not reveal what share of the population is fluent in multiple non-English languages.
Indicator V-08a displays the relevant Census Bureau data. While a language question has appeared on almost every decennial census since 1870, only since 1980 have respondents been asked not only whether they speak a language other than English but also how proficient they are in English. Although these data cannot measure the full extent of the nation’s multilingualism, they are some of the best available.
* U.S. Department of State, “National Security Language Initiative,” Fact Sheet (January 5, 2006). The other languages deemed “critical” as of January 2021 are Azerbaijani, Bangla, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.
