“Different languages, the same thoughts; servant to thoughts and their masters”*…
Every year, the US Census Bureau releases data on the languages spoken in American homes. Usually it groups the languages in 39 major categories. Now it has released much more detailed figures, which show that Americans speak not 39, but more than 320 distinct languages.
The bureau collected the data from 2009 to 2013 as part of the American Community Survey, which asks Americans all kinds of questions to create highly granular estimates on various demographic indicators. The new data estimate that more than 60 million Americans speak a language other than English at home…
Learn more– and see the breakdown– at “All 300-plus languages spoken in American homes, and the number of people who speak them.”
* Dejan Stojanovic, The Sun Watches the Sun
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As we choose our words, we might recall that it was on this date in 1969 that Sesame Street premiered on public television in the U.S. In 2008, it was estimated that 77 million Americans had watched the series as children. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries, and 20 international versions had been produced. And as of 2014, Sesame Street has won 159 Emmy Awards and 8 Grammy Awards—more than any other children’s show. The show, which was itself based on mountainous research, has been the subject of, literally, thousands of studies on its effectiveness as a learning vehicle for children; it has been a keystone of English (and native) language learning in the U.S. and around the world.
