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Just how many New Jerseyans primarily speak a language other than English in their homes?

According to newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, one in four homes in New Jersey speak a language other than English, with Spanish the next most spoken followed by Chinese, Portuguese, Tagalog, Italian, Korean, Gujarati, Polish, Hindu and Arabic.

About one in eight New Jersey residents speak English with less than "very well" proficiency, according to the survey.

The data, collected from 2009 to 2013, expanded the list of languages tabulated to 350 for the first time ever, up from 39 in previous surveys. It represents the most comprehensive data ever released from the Census Bureau on languages spoken less widely in the United States, such as Pennsylvania Dutch, Ukrainian, Turkish, Romanian, Amharic and many others.

“While most of the U.S. population speaks only English at home or a handful of other languages like Spanish or Vietnamese, the American Community Survey reveals the wide-ranging language diversity of the United States,” said Census Bureau statistician Erik Vickstrom.

In the New York metropolitan area at least 192 languages are spoken at home — with about 38 percent speaking a language other than English at home. In Philadelphia, at least 146 languages are spoken at home, with about 30 percent using a language other than English.

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