Spanish is the second language of Americans

Spanish is the second language with the highest number of speakers in the United States, after English. According to the 2017 census, 13.4% of the US population over 5 years of age speaks Spanish in their homes (41 million people), and there are more than 8 million Spanish students in the US classrooms.

Spanish is a particularly interesting case in the history of the US, as for a long time it was the most widely used language in vast areas of the country - from New Mexico to California.

Unlike other languages that were also spoken in the US, such as Italian or German, Spanish has fundamentally influenced life in North American communities. It was popular among the working class of the south and southwest, due to the gradual immigration from the former colonies of the Spanish empire. In Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California the presence of Spanish has shaped the social and cultural life of the country.

Despite the fact that Hispanic populations in Latin America have their own pre-Columbian languages, Spanish is the vehicular language among the entire Hispanic world, which is mainly reflected in the growth of this language in the US. However, the different communities of Spanish speakers, whether Cuban, Mexican or Colombian, contribute with their own linguistic, phonetic and lexical variety.

Naturally, as a result of contact with Spanish, there has been a lexical exchange between Spanish and English spoken in the US. For example, words like "adios", "barrio" or "sombrero" are used in English and recognized by most of their speakers. On the contrary, borrowed words from English like "to rent" (“rentar”), "to apply" (“aplicar”) or "department" (“departamento”) acquire a new meaning in Spanish, different from the original meaning in this language. Spanish in America is the best example of how languages change over time, adapting to the needs and historical circumstances of the individuals who make use of them.

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