language in the USA

**OC Richard** · 17th November 12, 07:31 AM

Dang!

Check out this language map of the USA.

http://arcgis.mla.org/mla/default.aspx

My home state, West Virginia, seems to be quite unusual in that every county has over 94% English speakers. The whole darn state is red.

My current state, California, is quite a patchwork, with only a half-dozen counties with over 94% English speakers.

**KenB** · 17th November 12, 07:56 AM

What a great map. Very interesting. I think I'll be spending a bit of time looking at it in more detail.

**Couper** · 17th November 12, 08:02 AM

Interesting, indeed.

With a degree in geography (albeit rather old) I do have an interest in maps of all sorts.

**Nick the DSM** · 17th November 12, 09:34 AM

My county showed 64-77%

Probably from all the Europeans and Hispanic immigrants, great diversity.

**Riverkilt** · 17th November 12, 09:41 AM

My county is a mess! Navajo, Hopi, Paiute, Basque, Spanish...and a wee big of English.

**cessna152towser** · 17th November 12, 10:09 AM

Very interesting.
Thanks for posting the link.

**McClef** · 17th November 12, 12:24 PM

Does the map show those whose first language is English (or whatever other is) or those whose first language is not English but who can still speak it to a certain degree?

**TheOfficialBren** · 17th November 12, 05:12 PM

I have seen some of these figures before. I would propose that there are more Hindi speakers than Greek speakers. We have seen an increase in Indian immigration as of late.

I was woefully not surprised to see Gaelic unlisted.

**EagleJCS** · 17th November 12, 10:28 PM

I'm not at all surprised to see the mix and the concentrations of most of different languages in Kentucky. Most of the non-English languages appear to be found in either the urban centers around Louisville and Lexington or in counties with the military bases Ft. Knox and Ft. Campbell. I was surprised to see there are some Navajo speakers in one county of Kentucky.

I wonder if some of the French, German and Spanish being reported was due to those languages being taught in the schools. (Kentucky requires at least 2 years study of a foreign language for graduation. Most school systems choose to teach at least one of those three languages.)