You Won’t Believe What Texas’ #3 Language Is

Texas is, to quote an old ad campaign, "like a whole other country". Traveling from one part of Texas to another is like traveling to a different country, foreign languages included.

Across Texas, about 164 different languages are spoken regularly with English and Spanish in the #1 and #2 spots. With its strong German history, I would have guessed German for the #3 most spoken language but, nope - that's not it.

Chào mừng đến Texas. That's how you say "Welcome To Texas" ... in Vietnamese.

Yep, it's true, I swear ... you can look it up for yourself, here ... and what I found even weirder is, we're not alone. Vietnamese is also the #3 language in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska, forming a straight line of states that goes almost all the way to Canada.

States Where German Is The 3rd Most Common Language

Across the country, the #3 language, after English and Spanish, varies pretty wildly. I thought German would be #3 for Texas but that's not the case until you're much farther north. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and North Dakota all "sprich deutsch". Farther east, German's also #3 in Kentucky and South Carolina.

Our neighbors in New Mexico and Arizona, not surprisingly thanks to the huge Navajo reservation, both have Navajo at #3.

The #1, 3rd Most Popular Language In The USA

That would be Chinese with 13 states placing it in 3rd.  Since my German guess for Texas wasn't correct, my next guess would have been Korean because I've always known El Paso at least to have a fairly strong Korean and Korean themed business presence. Nope, I was wrong again - Korean is only #3 in Alabama. (Alabama!?)

READ MORE: How To Speak Fluent Texan

Is French #3?

That would have been a good Texas guess too but French is only #3 in Louisiana, Vermont, New Hampshire Maine and ... based on the color code alone ... a tiny spot on the DC/Virginia line. I'm pretty sure it's #2 among U.S. hockey players.