The Arab Language

Nearly half of all Arab-Americans, 18 years and older, speak a language other than English at home. Indeed, almost one in three Arab-Americans five to 17 years of age speak a language other than English at home. Nonetheless, only one in 10 of those 18 and older speak English "not well or not at all," as do only 7.8 percent of those five to 17 years old.

Among Arab-Americans, five years of age or more, about one-third speak only English at home, compared with two-thirds of Asian-Pacific-Americans of the same age group.

The comparatively high percentages of Arab-Americans who speak Arabic at home is of course testimony to the increasing numbers of immigrants of the second wave. However, in recent years, there has been a resurgence in the study of Arabic, both in communities -- in the form of Arabic schools or classes -- and in the universities.

As greater numbers of Muslims have entered during the second wave, the importance of Arabic to the practice of Islam has helped promote the proliferation of classes devoted to its study. On the other end of the spectrum, second- and third-generation Arab-Americans have developed a deeper interest in Arabic culture because of a growing concern for the crisis situation in the Middle East. While this interest in their ancestry is common to many comfortably assimilated ethnics of later generations, the uniqueness of the political situation in the Arab world has further stimulated their interest.