Posts

Showing posts with the label USA

Why does the USA not have an official language?

Image
US states where English is an official language.  Light blue is where there are two official languages (Louisiana - French & English, New Mexico - Spanish & English, Hawaii - Hawaiian & English) 58 countries have English as an official language. Surprisingly, the list does not include either the UK or the USA. In the United States this was a conscious decision of the Founding Fathers . They believed that an official language would be divisive and undemocratic in a multi-lingual country.  Around 30% of the 18th century population of the USA was German or Dutch speaking. There were also many other linguistic minorities: 18 languages were spoken on Manhattan Island [New York City] as early as 1646. The Dutch, Flemish, Walloons, French, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, English, Scots, Irish, Germans, Poles, Bohemians, Portuguese, and Italians were among the settlement’s early inhabitants.  Vincent N. Parrillo, Diversity in America , 2008 An extended version of this post is  here  (

Which countries do not have an official language?

Image
According to Henry Hitchings  Language Wars  (2011) these nations do not currently have an  official  primary language: UK see here USA though 20 states now have an official language —  see here Australia Over 80% speak English but there is no official national language. Pakistan Urdu became official language in 2015 but   only spoken by 8% of population . Ethiopia Amharic is official language but most spoken is Oromo Somalia Eritrea  Costa Rica Why these countries?   Read extended transcript on Medium  About the English Language - Teaching Pack  

Which languages do Americans speak at home?

Image