I like this map. Some were surprises and some weren’t.
Not surprising:
– A lot of the New England speaks French.
– Many states in the Midwest have a lot of German speakers. I actually used to joke as we would drive from Memphis to Wisconsin that party way through Missouri stores and restaurants would all of a sudden be lots and lots of German names, and I would say we have left the South and now are in Midwest.
– Florida Haitian (Creole).
– New York Chinese. It would not surprise me if a lot of other languages were right behind Chinese.
– Michigan Arabic. Michigan has the largest Arab population in the country.
– Chinese in California and Washington.
– Aleut in Alaska.
– Japanese in Hawaii.
– French in Louisana.
Surprising
– Hmong Minnesota.
– French in North Carolina.
– Vietnamese in Texas.
– Russian in Oregon.
I think a map from 20 years ago might not have been much different in the majority of the states, but 40 years ago probably significantly different.
I wonder what drew the Vietnamese to be in TX?
Maryland was French, which I would not have guessed, but many Diplomats live in Maryland and French was, and maybe still is, one of the popular diplomatic languages.
I wonder if the Portuguese speakers in Utah are Mormon?
Pennsylvania I would have guessed German or Italian, but not totally shocking that it is Chinese.