It may surprise you to learn that only 51% of New Yorkers speak English at home. The other half may speak the lingua franca at work in the street but they maintain their mother tongues at home and in their local communities. It really stands out, however, is the sheer number of languages spoken in the city. Apart from English, the major players are, unsurprisingly, Spanish (a quarter of the population), followed by Chinese. However, it’s not called the Big Apple for nothing: hundreds of languages share the rest of the pie. Further down the list, a more complex picture of the cultural landscape emerges, mirroring today’s mobile, globalized population. Finally, at the bottom, are a few hundred speakers of native North American languages represented the original inhabitants of the continent. The US media have presented the news that English holds such a small majority here as something unique to New York. It may come as a shock to citizens, largely bilingualism is actually the norm worldwide. Data suggests that there are more people on this planet with a second language than without one. One reason New York accommodates so many outsiders is because they feel at home in such a diverse city. However, this is no different from many other large cities, from Toronto to Singapore, Paris to Dubai. In fact, Dubai may well have the highest rate of bilingualism in the world. These multicultural, multilingual cities are forcing the nations to belong to re-evaluate their cultural identity.
It may surprise you to learn that only 51% of New Yorkers speak English at home. The other half may speak the lingua franca at work in the street but they maintain their mother tongues at home and in their local communities. It really stands out, however, is the sheer number of languages spoken in the city. Apart from English, the major players are, unsurprisingly, Spanish (a quarter of the population), followed by Chinese. However, it’s not called the Big Apple for nothing: hundreds of languages share the rest of the pie. Further down the list, a more complex picture of the cultural landscape emerges, mirroring today’s mobile, globalized population. Finally, at the bottom, are a few hundred speakers of native North American languages represented the original inhabitants of the continent. The US media have presented the news that English holds such a small majority here as something unique to New York. It may come as a shock to citizens, largely bilingualism is actually the norm worldwide. Data suggests that there are more people on this planet with a second language than without one. One reason New York accommodates so many outsiders is because they feel at home in such a diverse city. However, this is no different from many other large cities, from Toronto to Singapore, Paris to Dubai. In fact, Dubai may well have the highest rate of bilingualism in the world. These multicultural, multilingual cities are forcing the nations to belong to re-evaluate their cultural identity.
- This may come as a surprise, considering the city’s status as the publishing capital of the English-speaking world.
- Even they may not be on the list a generation from now.
- First language Arabic speakers there comprise a mere 17% of the population.
- Often they use one within the family and one or more for the society outside.
- Combined, the big three make up 80% of the total.
- In fact, the lack of a language monopoly is not as unusual as we may first think.
- Notable among these are the ones that exemplify the early history of immigration to New York from Europe.