Languages Spoken in Mexico

The Mexican people can speak a variety of languages. There are over 60 indigenous languages in Mexico, although only 6% can speak any of it. This percentage approximately corresponds to about 6 million people in Mexico. 

The official language in Mexico is Spanish, simply because this is the language that most Mexicans communicate with. Initially, when the Spanish arrived, they tried to keep Nahuatl as the country’s official language. However, at the end of the 1600s and on until the 1700s, the Spanish colonizers began ordering decrees to change the official language of Mexico from Nahuatl to Spanish.  
During the 1990s, an amendment to the Mexican constitution led to the acceptance of indigenous languages as national languages. Thus, legal documents can now be written in all indigenous languages, as well as in Spanish. 

The most widespread indigenous language in Mexico is the Nahuatl language, which was the native tongue of the Aztecs. There are over a million Mexicans who can speak Nahuatl. Other widespread indigenous languages include the Mayan languages, Guarani and Quechua. 

Indigenous languages are grouped into families. These include language families such as Algonquian, Uto-Aztecan, Totonacan, Yuman-Cochimi, Oto-Manguean and Mayan, among others. 
A large number of people in Mexico can also speak foreign languages. English is fairly well-spoken by those living near the border, and by American and British immigrants. Certain languages are prominent in specific areas, such as Italian in Puebla and Veracruz; French in Jalisco and Baja California Sur; German in Chihuahua and Mexico City; ad Chinese in Baja California. Other languages, typically spoken by immigrants in Mexico, include Russian, Japanese, Korean, Scandinavian and Arabic, to name a few. However, none of these languages are considered national languages, even if more people around Mexico can speak them than indigenous languages. 

Learn a new language and make the most of your Mexico experience!