Language Totem in Grand Central Park, Los Angeles. Los Angeles Almanac Photo.
| Language | Total Speakers | Speak English "very well" | Speak English less than "very well" |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 9,098,454 | 6,644,754 | 2,453,700 |
| English & Northern European Languages | |||
| Speak only English | 3,966,317 | --- | --- |
| German | 25,684 | 22,492 | 3,192 |
| Yiddish | 2,819 | 2,418 | 401 |
| Other West Germanic languages | 5,858 | 4,872 | 986 |
| Scandinavian languages | 5,604 | 5,068 | 536 |
| Latin (Romance) & Southern European Languages | |||
| Spanish or Spanish Creole | 3,582,992 | 1,856,091 | 1,726,901 |
| French (incl. Patois, Cajun) | 34,918 | 28,554 | 6,364 |
| French Creole | 2,685 | 2,396 | 289 |
| Italian | 16,917 | 12,255 | 4,662 |
| Portuguese or Portuguese Creole | 11,100 | 7,708 | 3,392 |
| Greek | 6,955 | 5,155 | 1,800 |
| Slavic Languages | |||
| Russian | 47,620 | 21,162 | 26,458 |
| Polish | 6,352 | 4,171 | 2,181 |
| Serbo-Croatian | 6,803 | 5,258 | 1,545 |
| Other Slavic languages | 5,818 | 3,765 | 2,053 |
| Language | Total Speakers | Speak English "very well" | Speak English less than "very well" |
| Indic & Other Indo-European Languages | |||
| Armenian | 154,419 | 76,619 | 77,800 |
| Persian | 72,426 | 40,799 | 31,627 |
| Gujarati | 8,960 | 6,213 | 2,747 |
| Hindi | 19,952 | 15,101 | 4,851 |
| Urdu | 9,695 | 6,792 | 2,903 |
| Other Indic languages | 26,148 | 15,668 | 10,480 |
| Other Indo-European languages | 10,242 | 6,570 | 3,672 |
| Asian Languages | |||
| Chinese | 331,246 | 135,408 | 195,838 |
| Japanese | 57,376 | 27,576 | 29,800 |
| Korean | 183,700 | 65,835 | 117,865 |
| Mon-Khmer, Cambodian | 28,194 | 11,827 | 16,367 |
| Hmong | 870 | 523 | 347 |
| Thai | 21,874 | 8,732 | 13,142 |
| Laotian | 3,134 | 1,472 | 1,662 |
| Vietnamese | 74,689 | 28,805 | 45,884 |
| Other Asian languages | 20,130 | 12,905 | 7,225 |
| Language | Total Speakers | Speak English "very well" | Speak English less than "very well" |
| Pacific Islander Languages | |||
| Tagalog | 223,572 | 152,717 | 70,855 |
| Other Pacific Island languages | 31,723 | 20,324 | 11,399 |
| Native North American, Hungarian, Arabic, Hebrew, African & Other Languages | |||
| Navajo | 221 | 155 | 66 |
| Other Native North American languages | 781 | 658 | 123 |
| Hungarian | 5,521 | 3,633 | 1,888 |
| Arabic | 38,043 | 23,622 | 14,421 |
| Hebrew | 23,360 | 18,587 | 4,773 |
| African languages | 19,186 | 13,658 | 5,528 |
| Other and unspecified languages | 4,550 | 2,873 | 1,677 |
* Annual estimate from data collected for U.S. Census American Community Survey over 5-Year period
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
According to Professor Vyacheslav Ivanov of UCLA, there are at least 224 identified languages in Los Angeles County. This does not include differing dialects. Professor Ivanov estimates that publications are locally produced in about 180 of these languages. Only 92 languages have been specifically identified among students of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
