Puerto Rico will be a bilingual state when the Island becomes a state — but it will not be the first bilingual or multilingual state.
About 68 million Americans — 22% — speak a language besides English at home. Spanish is the most common alternative to English, with about 45 million speakers. According to the Census bureau, the next most common languages in order are Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Arabic. French, including Cajun and Louisiana Creole, has more than two million speakers in the U.S., while Korean has more than one million. Navajo, Hmong, and Hebrew have close to 200,000 speakers each. Only the top 29 languages are totaled in the census data, but there are about 430 different languages recorded.
The United States is a multilingual country.
Officially bilingual states
Because of the 10th amendment, each state can determine which language or languages will be official languages for that state. Two states have two official languages.
Hawaii is a bilingual state, recognizing both English and Hawaiian as official languages. Before Hawaii became a state, there were efforts to discourage the speaking of native Hawaiian in schools. Since Hawaii became a state, there have been strong movements to encourage young people to learn and speak Hawaiian.
New Mexico has both Spanish and English as official languages, The state constitution called for laws to be published in both Spanish and English, and this was a requirement until 1949. Spanish is still spoken at home by about 34% of residents of New Mexico.
Puerto Rico is an officially bilingual territory, with both Spanish and English as official languages.
Multilingual states
South Dakota names English and three Sioux languages as official languages.
Oklahoma has English, Cherokee, and Choctaw as its official languages.
Alaska lists English and more than 20 indigenous languages as its official languages.
De facto bilingual states
Some states have not named an official language or languages, and some have chosen English as an official language even though another language is widely spoken and is used in official documents, street names, and so on.
Lousiana has no official language, but uses English and French in official capacities.
Many states, including California, Arizona, Florida, and Texas, use Spanish and English widely.
Counties and cities also sometimes have official languages (for example, San Francisco has 5 official languages). Other regions within states may use other languages for official communications without declaring official languages. For example, Northwest Arkansas is home to the largest population of Marshallese people in the United States. School, hospitals, and government buildings all provide signs and printed documents in Marshallese.
Some states have laws requiring certain uses of non-English languages based on population of speakers of those languages.
Puerto Rico as a bilingual state
As a state, Puerto Rico would have the same power to choose its own official languages as all the other states have. The state legislature would be in charge of this decision. There is no federal law requiring the use of any particular language anywhere in the United States, and the U.S.Constitution says nothing at all on the subject. Under the 10th Amendment, this means that decisions about language are up to the states.
Other bilingual and multilingual territories have seen English become more widely spoken after admission. For example, English is now more widely spoken in Louisiana than French. However, Louisiana became a state in 1812. As more English speakers moved into the frontier state of Louisiana, English caught on. In contrast, Hawaii became a state in 1959 and Hawaiian became more widely spoken after that change. There have been times in U.S. history when there has been pressure to use English and times when other languages have been celebrated. Nonetheless, 430 different languages are currently spoken in American homes.
Puerto Rican Spanish is probably more threatened by the current territory status which causes people from Puerto Rico to move in large numbers from the Island to the states. Kids born in a state where English is the dominant language often do not speak Spanish as fluently as those who grow up in Puerto Rico.
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