Language Growth Continues in the United States

Number of Languages Spoken Highlights the Importance of One Unifying Tongue

As the United States continues to grow linguistically, our reluctance to enact official English legislation may lead to disharmony and increased cost.

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of languages in which services are being offered. New York City’s subway system now distributes its farecards in nine languages, while on the roads, state departments of motor vehicles offer driver’s license exams in more than 40 languages collectively. Instruction guides for the U.S. Census are available in 50 languages from Albanian to Yiddish.

U.S. Government websites also appear in a lengthy list of languages, from the 16 offered at the Social Security site to 19 on the Department of the Treasury’s new $20 bill page. However, it must be noted that the remainder of the Department of the Treasury’s information exhibits only meager Spanish translation. In the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an entity most likely to deal with speakers of other languages, fails to go that far, admitting, “This Website offers its many thousands of pages of public information, forms and services almost exclusively in English.”

“In trying to be accommodating, the government is actually discriminating,” explained U.S. English, Inc. Chairman Mauro E. Mujica. “A speaker of Armenian can find out about Social Security, or how to fill in a Census form, but is stymied from learning about our currency. Rather than offering a piecemeal approach that leaves newcomers high and dry, we must make efforts to offer English instruction, so that they may fully partake in our society.”

A speaker of Armenian, or any other language of Europe, save Spanish, would be hard pressed to find a voting ballot in his native language. While the federal government currently mandates voting ballots in 28 languages, only “minority languages,” specifically Spanish, Asian languages and Native American languages, are covered.

Regardless of the number of languages offered, our government is falling far short of covering our entire population. The 1990 U.S. Census found 328 languages spoken in the United States. Census 2000 prepared language codes for 380 languages for its decennial tally. At the high end of the scale comes data from the National Clearinghouse on English Language Acquisition, which found 430 language backgrounds for Limited English Proficient Students in the U.S. just three years ago.

“To print every form, school notice, ballot and instruction booklet in more than 400 languages would be a quick trip into bankruptcy and chaos,” said Mujica. “Our government’s refusal to embrace English as our official language has resulted in a jigsaw puzzle approach to multilingualism, leaving speakers of hundreds of languages stranded. The value of an official English language policy has never been greater.

“America has long recognized its proud diversity in languages. Now it is time for us to recognize English, the glue binding the people that speak those diverse languages.”

Languages Spoken or Used in Varying Sources

For a complete list of the languages click here or call the office of U.S. English at 202-833-0100