Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 6.1
Top Ten Non-English Languages Spoken at Home by People over the Age of 5 in the
United States, 2008.
TOP TEN LANGUAGES SPOKEN AT HOME
BY NON-ENGLISH SPEAKERS
Language
Total
Percent
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Spanish
Chinese
Tagalog
French
Vietnamese
German
Korean
Russian
Arabic
Italian
34,559,894
2,465,761
1,488,385
1,332,633
1,225,036
1,122,014
1,051,641
864,069
786,210
782,097
12.2
0.9
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.3
Data from:
United States Census Bureau Statistical Abstract, 2011.
in the province to demonstrate that they functioned in
French. Upon passage of this law, many businesses and
individuals moved out of the province of Quebec into
neighboring Ontario. In 1993, the Quebec government
passed a law requiring the use of French in advertising
(Fig. 6.6). The Quebec law allows the inclusion of both
French and English (or another language) translations on
signage, as long as the French letters are twice the size of
the other language's letters.
Not all of Quebec's residents identify with the
French language. Within the province, a small propor-
tion of people speak English at home, others speak indig-
enous languages, and still others speak another language
altogether—one associated with their country of origin.
When the Quebec Parliament passed several laws pro-
moting French during the 1980s and 1990s, members of
Canada's First Nations, including the Cree and Mohawk,
who live in Quebec, expressed a desire to remain part of
Figure 6.6
Quebec Province, Quebec.
The imprint
of the French Canadian culture is evident
in the cultural landscape of Rue Saint-Louis
in Quebec. Here, the architecture and
store signs confi rm that this region is not
simply Canadian; it is French Canadian.
© Andre Jenny/Alamy.
