Demographics of the Chinese Language in the U.S.

2014 STARTALK/NHLRC Teacher Workshop

Jessica Hung, Guannan Wang, Jeanie White, Wei Yin, Wei Zhang and Yue Zheng

1. Chinese and its regional dialects

2. Where do Chinese speakers in the U.S.

come from

3. Number of speakers of Chinese in the U.S

4. How has the number of speakers changed over the years?

5. Where in the U.S. do they live?

Mandarin? Chinese?

Qinshi Huang (秦始皇 )

-221bc to 210 bc

The first emperor of China

Cantonese- one of the most spoken dialects of Chinese

Mandarin- Official language

- The language that most schools in China teach

Where is Mandarin Chinese spoken?• China• Taiwan• Singapore and

Southeast Asia• around the

world

Where do Chinese speakers in the U.S. come from?

Guangdong and Fujian

Other parts in Mainland China

Taiwan, HongKong, Macau

Some countries in the Southeast Asia like Singapore

Where Do Chinese HL Come From?

Guangzhou/Canton Taiwan Mainland of China HongKong, Singapore

The 1st wave : 1840-1925

The 2nd wave: 1950-present

The 3rd wave: 1980 to present

Time to time

0.08 % of US populationBy 1920

0.36 % of US population by 1980

1.23 &% of US population by 2012

for the California Gold Rush and railroads constructing

COMPARISON OF CHINESE SPEAKERS IN 1980 AND 2011

1980 20110

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000

Number of Chinese Speakers

From census.gov (Language spoken at home by ability to speak English for the population 5 years and over 1 year estimate)

NUMBERS OF CHINESE SPEAKERS 2007 TO 2012

2007200820092010201120120

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

3000000

3500000

Number of Chinese Speakers

How many speakers of Chinese are there in the U.S.?

Chinese 2,455,583 • Cantonese 437,301• Mandarin 381,121• Formosan 76,131• Fuchow 2,671• Wu 2,477• Kan, Hsiang 291

Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over for the United States: 2006-2008

Where in the U.S. do they reside?

Nine states with the most Chinese speakers

States Number of Speakers• CA 926,918• NY 454,479• TX 114,309• NJ 100,441• MA 89,914• IL 76,514• WA 68,083• PA 59,127• MG 54,869

In 2010, half of Chinese-born people living in the United States lived either in California or New York State.

States Number of Speakers• WV 1,576• AK 1,028• ND 988• MT 919• SD 801• VT 798• PR 664• WY 578

Nine states with the least Chinese speakers in the U.S.

• New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Houston, Seattle, Chicago…

• Multiple Chinatowns, an older one and a newer one (populated by immigrants from the past three decades)

• Have varied educational experiences and socioeconomic status

What cities do they live in?

谢谢！