In Louisiana, Spanish (not French) is second to English
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Louisiana has a decidedly French flair, but fewer residents are speaking French at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Why it matters: President Trump signed an executive order over the weekend declaring English the official language of the United States, writes Axios' Ivana Saric.
- It's the first time the U.S. federal government has a single official language. More than 350 languages are spoken here.
The big picture: French was the most common language (after English) in Louisiana in 1980. Now, Spanish holds the No. 2 spot.
- In 1980, 7% of Louisianans spoke French at home, compared with the national average of 0.7%.
- Now, 1.5% of Louisianans speak French at home, which is still one of the biggest percentages in the country. About 5% speak Spanish at home.
- Florida (2.7%), Washington, D.C. (2%), and Massachusetts (1.9%) also have high percentages of French speakers.
Zoom out: Vietnamese, Arabic and Hindi are the three other most popular languages spoken at home in Louisiana today.
Flashback: Louisiana was under French and Spanish rule until the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. It became a state in 1812.
- For decades, it was illegal to educate Louisiana students in French and was culturally frowned upon to even speak it.
- Now, there are several French and Spanish immersion schools in New Orleans and throughout the state.
- French President Emmanuel Macron visited New Orleans in 2022 as part of his efforts to promote the French language.
What he said: "Here, women and men also considered that choosing a language was to continue to be faithful to values, to a struggle, to their history, to an identity," Macron said during his visit.
- "And because white Creoles, Afro-descendants who loved French so much, because Acadian-descendants in such a troubled period, and deciding to come here, have, in a way, by a form of malice of history, succeeded in creating something literally unique in this place."