Spanish is the second language in the United States: about 37 million Latinos speak it at home. Even when the figure may seem high, fewer and fewer people in this population use it, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center. In fact, only between 2006 and 2015 the percentage of Latinos who spoke it was reduced by 5%, although in the same period six million more Latinos arrived in the country.
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So, is it necessary to speak Spanish to be considered Latino? 71% of this population, born inside and outside the United States, responded that not during another Pew Research Center survey. Even so, the organization also highlights that in 2011, 95% said it was important that the next class should go and use the language.
In the 25 metropolitan areas with the largest Latino population in the United States, the use of Spanish decreased between 2006 and 2015. The highest figures were registered in the San Antonio-New Braunfels and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale areas: 9% less than Latinos speak the language.
In 2015, Phillip Carter, doctor of linguistics, academic and researcher at the International University of Florida, told CNN that Spanish is being lost "throughout the country because we do not have high quality bilingual education programs." For him, "we have to educate our bilingual community in a bilingual way, which is total immersion in both languages",
On the other hand, the Pew Research Center explains that the use of Spanish in this population may vary depending on the metropolitan area, "in part because immigrants are much more likely to speak Spanish, compared to those born in the United States. The large presence of immigrants in the Miami metropolitan area, for example, explains why a large proportion of Latinos speak more Spanish there than in areas like Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, where the vast majority of Latinos are born in the United States.
Exactly, the figures of this organization indicate more than half of the Latinos who spoke Spanish at home 2015, were concentrated in 10 metropolitan areas: 18.5 million lived there. In addition, California, Texas and Florida account for 57% of this population.
The use of Spanish also decreased in the two metropolitan areas with the largest Latino population in the United States. In the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, where they live more than 5.5 million, fell by 3% between 2006 and 2015. While in New York-Newark-Jersey City, with 3.6 million Latinos, decreased 5% in the same period.
Where do they speak more and less Spanish?
Miami and McAllen have the highest rates of Latinos who speak Spanish in the United States with 90% each. Why? "The Latino population in Miami had the highest proportion of immigrants (64%) among the largest metropolitan areas in the country. In McAllen, immigrants constituted only 32% of Latinos, although the shared border of the metropolitan area with Mexico helps explain the widespread use of Spanish there, "the Pew explained.
The Denver area is the place where Latinos speak Spanish with only 57%. Sacramento and San Antonio follow with about 60% in each of these two zones. "These areas had some of the lowest immigrant percentages among their Latino populations: 29% in Denver, 30% in Sacramento and 16% in San Antonio," the organization said, which helps account for its low Spanish-speaking percentages.
