More than half of Americans think kids should learn Spanish at school — as 45 million people speak it at home

You’re in America now, speak Spanish.

More than half of Americans believe it is very important for children to learn Spanish in school — as the number of households who use it as a first language surges, according to a new survey.

Some 53% of those surveyed said it was “extremely or very” important for US schools to offer Spanish classes, the most of any non-English language in the list, according to the study from Pew Research Center released on Monday.

Spanish is also the second-most common language spoken at home in the US after English, with 45 million people age 5 and over speaking it at home, according to Census figures.

That figure has risen significantly in recent decades, from about 5% of the population in 1980 to 10% in 2000 and nearly 14% in 2024.

In the Pew survey, one-fifth of respondents said schools should offer a Mandarin class, the second-most picked language, while 14% said it was extremely important that Latin be offered in the classroom.

Spanish is currently offered as an independent class in 40% of US public schools, while Mandarin Chinese and Latin are taught in just 3 and 2% of schools, respectively, the data shows.

More than half of Americans think it is very important that Spanish is taught in schools. USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

After Spanish, French is the most commonly taught language in American schools, with 12% offering an independent class.

But the language of love appears to be falling out of favor with Americans, with only 13% of respondents saying it should be taught, fewer than those who want to see Latin in the classroom.

Some 40% of respondents want any form of foreign language taught in US schools. The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images

Immigrants and people in cities are far more likely to believe that foreign languages should be taught in schools, compared to their US-born counterparts and those in rural and suburban areas, according to the findings of the study, carried out in 2024.

Some 40% of respondents said it is extremely or very important for US children to learn a language other than English, a figure that rose to 52% for those living in urban areas.

Suburbanites fit the national average, with 40% stressing the importance of foreign languages, compared to 28% of Americans in rural areas.

Almost two-thirds (60%) of first-generation immigrants and Americans born in Puerto Rico said it was extremely important that US kids learn a second language, compared to just 36% of US-born respondents who felt the same.

Interestingly, just under half (49%) of second-generation immigrants felt as strongly about teaching US kids a second language, while that figure dipped to 33% — lower than the US-born average— for third-generation immigrants.

Respondents’ opinions on teaching languages in schools also varied depending on their views of America’s status in the world.

Only a quarter (27%) of those who see the US as the sole global superpower said that it was very important for American kids to learn another language in school.

That number went up to 43% for people who see the US as one of several global superpowers, and 51% who didn’t name America as a superpower at all.