Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Slate Confirms What Many Latinos (And Non-Latinos) Already Know– The Prevalence of Español in the Estados Unidos de América

An article by Ben Blatt that was published in Slate regarding the language(s) spoken in the United States, complete with maps, confirmed what many sources (the Pew Hispanic Center, Nielsen, the U.S. Census, U.S. Latinos in general) already knew– that the United States is a multilingual society and predominately a bilingual society– one that speaks English and Spanish.


Esta tierra fue hecha para ti y para mi.
This land was made for you and me.

Other than English, according to Slate, the most commonly spoken language in the United States is Spanish (with French a very, very distant second). Spanish is the most commonly spoken language (other than English) in 43 of the nation's 50 states.

What is interesting is that Blatt did not find this prevalence of español in los Estados Unidos de América to be that interesting at all. The Rebeldes of Latino Rebels theorize that Blatt didn't find it interesting because he (and Slate, by extension), think that Spanish is here to stay in the U.S. of A and that Spanish is, in fact, now mainstream.

(Something to note: Contrary to the opinion of some in the United States, the U.S. does NOT have an official language at the federal level.)

To read the article in Slate, click here.

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