<P> Many languages in the United States are used, or historically have been used . Over 500 languages are spoken at various levels by the U.S. population . The most commonly used language is English (specifically American English), which is the de facto national language of the United States . Since the 1965 Immigration Act, Spanish is the second most common language in the country . The state government of Louisiana offers services and documents in French, as does New Mexico in Spanish . There are many languages indigenous to North America or to U.S. states or holdings in the Pacific region . Hawaiian, although having few native speakers, is an official language along with English at the state level in Hawaii . Alaska recognizes twenty Native languages as official . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Language Spoken at Home (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2016) </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> List </Th> <Td> (show) <Ul> <Li> English only--237,810,023 </Li> <Li> Spanish--40,489,813 </Li> <Li> Chinese--3,372,930 </Li> <Li> Tagalog--1,701,960 </Li> <Li> Vietnamese--1,509,994 </Li> <Li> Arabic--1,231,098 </Li> <Li> French--1,216,668 </Li> <Li> Korean--1,088,788 </Li> <Li> Russian--909,374 </Li> <Li> German--905,691 </Li> <Li> Haitian Creole--856,009 </Li> <Li> Hindi--810,877 </Li> <Li> Portuguese--767,210 </Li> <Li> Italian--576,154 </Li> <Li> Polish--539,151 </Li> <Li> Urdu--474,481 </Li> <Li> Persian--438,448 </Li> <Li> Japanese--464,535 </Li> <Li> Gujarati--407,520 </Li> <Li> Telugu--365,566 </Li> <Li> Bengali--324,008 </Li> <Li> Tai--Kadai--307,442 </Li> <Li> Greek--288,255 </Li> <Li> Punjabi--287,491 </Li> <Li> Tamil--273,332 </Li> <Li> Armenian--237,550 </Li> <Li> Serbo - Croatian--236,761 </Li> <Li> Hebrew--225,147 </Li> <Li> Hmong--224,133 </Li> <Li> Bantu--223,334 </Li> <Li> Khmer--203,115 </Li> <Li> Navajo--163,784 </Li> <Li> other Indo - European languages--578,492 </Li> <Li> other Afro - Asiatic languages--521,932 </Li> <Li> other Niger--Congo languages--515,629 </Li> <Li> other West Germanic languages--487,675 </Li> <Li> other Austronesian languages--467,718 </Li> <Li> other Indic languages--409,631 </Li> <Li> other languages of Asia--384,154 </Li> <Li> other Slavic languages--338,644 </Li> <Li> other Dravidian languages--241,678 </Li> <Li> other languages of North America--195,550 </Li> <Li> other and unspecified languages--258,257 </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Language Spoken at Home (U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2016) </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> List </Th> <Td> (show) <Ul> <Li> English only--237,810,023 </Li> <Li> Spanish--40,489,813 </Li> <Li> Chinese--3,372,930 </Li> <Li> Tagalog--1,701,960 </Li> <Li> Vietnamese--1,509,994 </Li> <Li> Arabic--1,231,098 </Li> <Li> French--1,216,668 </Li> <Li> Korean--1,088,788 </Li> <Li> Russian--909,374 </Li> <Li> German--905,691 </Li> <Li> Haitian Creole--856,009 </Li> <Li> Hindi--810,877 </Li> <Li> Portuguese--767,210 </Li> <Li> Italian--576,154 </Li> <Li> Polish--539,151 </Li> <Li> Urdu--474,481 </Li> <Li> Persian--438,448 </Li> <Li> Japanese--464,535 </Li> <Li> Gujarati--407,520 </Li> <Li> Telugu--365,566 </Li> <Li> Bengali--324,008 </Li> <Li> Tai--Kadai--307,442 </Li> <Li> Greek--288,255 </Li> <Li> Punjabi--287,491 </Li> <Li> Tamil--273,332 </Li> <Li> Armenian--237,550 </Li> <Li> Serbo - Croatian--236,761 </Li> <Li> Hebrew--225,147 </Li> <Li> Hmong--224,133 </Li> <Li> Bantu--223,334 </Li> <Li> Khmer--203,115 </Li> <Li> Navajo--163,784 </Li> <Li> other Indo - European languages--578,492 </Li> <Li> other Afro - Asiatic languages--521,932 </Li> <Li> other Niger--Congo languages--515,629 </Li> <Li> other West Germanic languages--487,675 </Li> <Li> other Austronesian languages--467,718 </Li> <Li> other Indic languages--409,631 </Li> <Li> other languages of Asia--384,154 </Li> <Li> other Slavic languages--338,644 </Li> <Li> other Dravidian languages--241,678 </Li> <Li> other languages of North America--195,550 </Li> <Li> other and unspecified languages--258,257 </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr>

When did english become america's official language