DEARBORN, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – With English and Spanish being the most common languages spoken in America (91.6%), the third most popular language varies from state to state according to WordFinder, a word-solving website for game enthusiasts. In Michigan, that language is Arabic, although some might argue that “Yooper” is one of the more prevalent languages in the state.

In a map created by WordFinder, it shows a variety of dialects spoken across the country as a result of immigration, with Arabic being the third most popular language in Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Tennessee. In percentages, WordFinder says that 1.37% of households in Michigan speak Arabic.

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Overall, in the United States, the third most popular language spoken is German, which showed up in 13 states, followed by French, Chinese, Portuguese and Arabic. The 2021 Census data shows that 42 million Americans have German ancestry with the states of North Dakota and Wisconsin being where many of the migrants from Germany frequently settled and is often referred to as the “German belt.”

Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic are the most spoken in major Southwest cities with Chinese and Russian spoken widely across New York neighborhoods. Then there is Tagalog, which is the most spoken language in nine cities in the Western United States. Tagalog is a major language that is spoken in the Philippines.

The United States doesn’t actually have an “official” language although some lawmakers have tried to legislate one over the years. As recently as March of this year, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) introduced “The English Language Unity Act” which his office says would require government functions to be conducted in English and adjust requirements for naturalization by introducing a universal English language testing standard.

In Michigan in 2017, the House passed legislation to make English the state’s official language but the Senate never voted on it. 30 other states have made English their official language according to the website Lingoda, an online language school.

USA.gov says that although English is the most commonly used language in the country, there are more than 350 languages that people in the country speak or sign.

In Michigan, during the 2020 election, Michigan rolled out voting information and resources in nine different languages with the help of Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s “Michigan Language Access Task Force.” In order to help the non-English speaking voters navigate the elections, the program provided materials in Arabic, Bangla, Burmese, English, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, Tagalog and Urdu. About the program, Benson said that it would ensure that “every voter in Michigan knows their rights and how to exercise them is critical to a health democracy.” The program also translated sample ballots into Arabic and Spanish as part of their Sample Ballot Translation Pilot Program.

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Although the Arabic language is not a language covered under the Voting Rights Act as a protected class, it is optional for clerks to offer additional language resources and in Michigan’s 2022 primary election, it was the first time that voters in Dearborn and Hamtramck could access official Arabic language ballots to cast their vote.

According to Detour Detroit, nearly 10% of adults in Detroit speak a language other than English in their homes and that number is 67% in Hamtramck. Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, is estimated to be 45% Arab American and is often referred to as the “capital of Arab America.” They recently elected their first Muslim and Arab American mayor, Abdullah Hammoud. Hamtramck, a suburb within Detroit’s city limits, became the first city in America to elect an all Muslim American City Council, including their mayor, in 2021.

Axios Detroit reported in May of this year that about 190,000 Arabic speakers live in Metro Detroit or about 13% of all Arabic speakers in the United States and 91% of those in Michigan, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. They also listed Arabic as the nation’s seventh-most common non-English language spoken at home.