UNITED STATES
There isn’t an official language in the United States, although certain states have designated English as such.
The majority of languages spoken in the United States are English, although there are over 350 other languages that people can speak or sign. The official language of certain states is listed as English.
UNITED KINGDOM
English is spoken across the UK, but it is not the only native official language. You may also hear Welsh in Wales. Gaelic and Scots in Scotland. 58 countries list English as an official language — but not in the UK. The world’s lingua franca or second language is not, technically, the ‘official’ language of its birthplace.
The de fecto official language of the UK is English which is spoken by approximately 59.8 million residents, or 98% of the population, over the age of three. An estimated 700,000 people speak Welsh in the UK, an official language in Wales and the only dejure official language in any part of the UK. Approximately 1.5 million people in the UK speak Scots — although there is debate as to whether this is a distinct language or a variety of English.
If the vast majority of UK citizens speak English, why is it not the official language?
The linguistic history of the United Kingdom is complex. Until the 19th century, the English language was not seen as a unifying force — majorities in Ireland, Scotland and Wales did not speak it while various kings also struggled.
It was, in fact, the increasing domination of English in the Nineteen century that led to political tension. In Ireland, for example, about half the native population spoke Irish as their first language in 1800. But the number of native Gaelic speakers then declined dramatically. This was partly a result of the Great Famine of the late 1840s, which hit Gaelic-speaking areas hardest. Death and mass emigration accelerated a trend already in place.
Were people forced to speak English?
English became the primary language of most of the United Kingdom through usage rather than coercion. Even in Ireland, Gaelic was not formally forced out of public life.
Unlike in Spain, for example, there was no serious attempt to crush ‘home nation’ nationalism through the prohibition of the public use of Welsh or Gaelic. As a result, Irish nationalist intellectuals (like Patrick Pearse) were not legally impeded in their attempt to revive the Irish language…
AUSTRALIA
Australia has no official languages. English is the national language by default. It is also the lingua franca among the hundreds of Aboriginal languages still spoken in remote communities
