How Many Languages Are There & What it Means for Healthcare Providers
Our planet is home to more than 7,000 different languages. Thanks to a long history of immigration, experts estimate that anywhere from around 300 to over 800 of those languages are spoken in the United States, making it one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. And when it comes to the nation’s healthcare system, just over 50 languages are commonly used between patients and their healthcare providers across the nation, according to data from AMN Healthcare.
While most of the country’s multilingual individuals do speak English, about 8% of people living in the United States have limited English proficiency (LEP), meaning they’re unable to effectively communicate with their healthcare providers—or anyone else, for that matter—in English. Because of this, healthcare providers need to be adequately prepared to interact with speakers of other languages in their preferred tongue, as miscommunication between patients and their doctors can lead to serious, even life-threatening, errors.
In this blog post, we’ll take a broad look at the global linguistic landscape before narrowing in more closely on factors that healthcare providers need to be aware of to provide equitable language access to their patients with LEP.
Table of Contents
How Many Languages Are There? A Look at the Linguistic Landscape
The Distinction Between Language vs. Dialect
The Growing List of Endangered Languages
Why the Number of Languages in the World Matters in Healthcare
Healthcare Needs to Be Accessible to All Populations
Miscommunication Leads to Misdiagnosis
Language Gaps Disrupt Operations
Non-Compliance Puts Your Operation at Risk
Strategies & Best Practices for Healthcare Providers
Needs Assessment and Prioritization
Interpretation and Translation Modalities
Staff Training and Cultural Competency
Policy, Governance, and Sustainability
Frequently Asked Questions About How Many Languages Are There & Healthcare Literacy
How Many Languages Are There? A Look at the Linguistic Landscape
Estimates vary on just how many languages are spoken across the world, but most experts seem to agree that the number is somewhere in the ballpark of 7,000 languages. However, there are other factors that contribute to the use and extinction of language.
The Distinction Between Language vs. Dialect
Data from Ethnologue says there are 7,159 languages in use today. However, this kind of data is tricky to pin down cleanly—the distinction between a language and a dialect can be very subtle. What one source classifies as two separate languages might be identified as two dialects of the same language elsewhere.
But what’s the difference between a language and a dialect?
- Language: A system of communication used by a group of people, consisting of spoken, written, or signed words and the rules for combining them.
- Dialect: A regional or social variation of a language that differs in pronunciation, vocabulary, or grammar but is still mutually intelligible with other forms of the same language.
What’s more, languages and their speakers are constantly changing—a language today might eventually split into several different languages later on, just like Latin evolved into modern Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese (among others).
The Growing List of Endangered Languages
Likewise, languages regularly vanish from everyday use. A language is endangered when it is at risk of falling out of use because it has very few speakers, especially if younger generations are no longer learning it.
According to Ethnologue, 44% of the world’s languages are endangered. On the flip side, just 20 languages (less than 1% of the world’s languages by Ethnologue’s count) are spoken natively by about half the world population.
The Geography of Language
Linguistic diversity isn’t necessarily spread out evenly. Linguistic diversity in the United States is heavily tied to patterns of immigration.
Within the United States, urban centers like New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago are home to native speakers of hundreds of different languages. And while other regions may not have quite as many different languages represented, it’s not uncommon to hear languages like Navajo, Mandarin, Spanish, or Hmong spoken in various rural and suburban communities.
The table below shows data based on U.S. Census Bureau statistics and other sources like the American Community Survey.
| Region | Most Common Non-English Languages | Approximate % of Population |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast | Spanish, French, Chinese | 10-15% |
| South | Spanish, French, Vietnamese, Arabic | 8-12% |
| Midwest | Spanish, German, Arabic | 5-10% |
| West | Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Chinese | 12-18% |
| Pacific Islands | Ilokano (Hawaii), Samoan, Chamorro (Guam) | Varies |
But what does all of this mean for healthcare providers in the United States? How do language demographics affect patient care?
Why the Number of Languages in the World Matters in Healthcare
Linguistic diversity has real, measurable impacts in clinical settings, and every healthcare provider needs to pay close attention to the linguistic landscape of their particular locale. By understanding linguistic patterns in their area, providers can offer better care to patients with LEP, empowering these patients to advocate for themselves.
Ultimately, the number of languages in use worldwide underscores the importance of designing systems that can meet patients where they are linguistically. Here’s how:
Healthcare Needs to be Accessible to All Populations
LEP individuals make up a fairly significant portion of the United States population, at about 8%. While that may not seem like a staggering percentage, in reality, that’s nearly 26.9 million people who are limited in their ability to effectively communicate with English-speaking healthcare providers.
And while you may serve a predominantly English-speaking population, all you need is one deaf or hard-of-hearing or LEP patient needing critical care to highlight the importance of accessible communication. Having the right resources in place ensures healthcare providers can deliver quality care to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Miscommunication Leads to Misdiagnosis
Nothing good comes from miscommunication and misunderstanding. When patients and providers fail to understand one another, the likelihood of negative health outcomes increases significantly. Miscommunication has been linked to misdiagnosis, medication errors, delayed treatment, and lower adherence to care plans. Research shows that language barriers increase the likelihood of preventable adverse events in clinical settings.
Language Gaps Disrupt Operations
Failing to account for language diversity can also create operational challenges. Staff may spend extra time trying to work around communication gaps, which slows workflows and increases stress.
Non-Compliance Puts Your Organization at Risk
Hospitals and clinics that neglect proper language services also face compliance risks. The United States, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act requires federally funded healthcare providers to offer language access services. Non-compliance can result in legal penalties, reputational damage, and costly corrective action plans.
Strategies & Best Practices for Healthcare Providers
Here are a few strategies for healthcare providers to take the linguistic diversity of their particular locale into account and improve the quality of their care for LEP patients:
Needs Assessment and Prioritization
Not every healthcare provider will have the same exact language access needs. A hospital in Seattle is much more likely to encounter patients who speak Coast Salish than a provider in Oklahoma City is—and that provider in Oklahoma City is equally more likely to encounter patients who speak Cherokee or Choctaw.
Use a data-based approach to determine which languages to prioritize in your language access strategy—you can draw on data from the US Census to see what languages are most commonly spoken around you, and use patient intake surveys to see what languages are most common among your patients.
Interpretation and Translation Modalities
Once you’ve identified the languages that have the highest demand, you can work with a language service provider to identify interpreting and translation solutions that meet your needs.
Find a language service provider that specializes in medical interpreting and translation and offers services in the languages you need most. Your provider will help you identify the specific services you need most, whether it’s in-person interpreting or on-demand remote interpretation via video or phone call. You’ll also want to identify important documents that need translating—things like consent forms and administrative paperwork should be translated promptly.
Technology
Many providers may be tempted to use tools like artificial intelligence and machine translation to speed up the translation and interpreting processes. However, it’s not recommended to use without expert supervision, particularly in the healthcare system, where communication is often high-stakes and there’s little room for error. Consult with your language service provider about these technologies and be sure there’s always a human in the loop to verify the quality and accuracy of the software’s output.
Staff Training and Cultural Competency
Even the best language services fall short without staff who know how to use them effectively. Training clinicians to work with interpreters, whether in person or remotely, helps ensure accurate communication. Techniques like “teach-back,” where patients repeat instructions in their own words, can confirm understanding and reduce errors. Cultural competency training also equips providers to recognize language bias, avoid assumptions, and build trust across diverse patient populations.
Policy, Governance, and Sustainability
Be sure to establish clear institutional guidelines for interpreter use, translation standards, and staff training expectations. Building partnerships with community interpreters or trusted language service providers can expand capacity for rare languages. Regulatory and accreditation requirements provide a framework, but should also be backed by strong governance. By treating language access as a core part of health equity strategy, providers can ensure long-term impact and accountability.
Challenges and Future Outlook
The strategies above can certainly be challenging to implement, but a trusted language service provider like Avantpage can help you with much of the legwork of developing and implementing a strong language access plan.
Healthcare providers often find that language access measures are costly to implement. And indeed, interpretation and translation services can certainly be expensive. There are some ways to lower costs without significantly reducing the overall quality of your language access services, such as making use of remote interpreting services, rather than in-person interpretation. You can also consider implementing a technology-driven translation process with human linguists carefully reviewing machine translation output for accuracy and cultural sensitivity.
Although it can be costly, keep in mind that the cost of not having a strong language access plan is often greater than the cost of the language services themselves. Without these services, healthcare providers run the risk of extremely expensive (not to mention time-consuming and reputation-damaging) legal fees and fines for noncompliance with local and federal regulations.
Another common challenge is finding interpreters and translators who support rare or endangered languages. In these cases, your language service provider can help you find the right person for the job. Additionally, community-based organizations can also help connect you with possible interpreters and language experts.
As artificial intelligence and machine translation technologies improve, it’s likely that these tools will be used more and more in the healthcare system. However, it’s important to note that these tools still are not at a point where healthcare providers can safely use them without a human reviewer to make sure that translations and interpretations are accurate.
Frequently Asked Questions About Global Languages and Healthcare
How many languages do healthcare providers realistically need to support?
This largely depends on local demand. Healthcare providers in a place like New York City, where more than 800 different languages are spoken, will need to be prepared to support more languages than a provider in a small town with less linguistic diversity. This is why organizations should conduct thorough, data-driven needs assessments and plan their language access services around these needs.
What are the risks of not providing language services in healthcare?
Among other risks, poor language access can result in regulatory noncompliance, poor health outcomes for patients with LEP, decreased trust, and lowered reputation.
What tools can healthcare providers use to bridge language gaps?
Healthcare providers should work closely with a language service provider to identify the tools they need to address gaps in language access. These may include, but are not limited to, remote interpreting software and machine translation technology. Learn about AvantInterpret and AvantSend.
What is considered a language versus a dialect, and why does it matter in healthcare?
A dialect is a specific variety of a language—think North American English versus British English. The borders between a dialect and a language are often hard to identify—for example, Mandarin and Cantonese are not mutually intelligible, but are often classified under the Chinese language (and on the other hand, languages like Arabic and Maltese have an extremely high degree of mutual intelligibility, but are still considered distinct languages). In healthcare, it’s important to identify the specific dialect that an LEP patient speaks to find an interpreter who is best suited to provide services.
How can providers measure the impact of language access programs?
Providers can measure the impact of language access programs by tracking patient outcomes, satisfaction surveys, and readmission or error rates among LEP patients. Monitoring interpreter utilization, turnaround times for translated materials, and compliance with legal requirements also provide useful insights. Comparing these metrics before and after program implementation helps quantify improvements in safety, equity, and efficiency.
Conclusion
With more than 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, considering linguistic diversity is an important factor in planning out language access services in the healthcare system. Providers who invest in strong language access strategies not only reduce clinical risk but also ease operational burdens and strengthen trust with their communities. From staff training to governance and sustainable partnerships, every step toward better communication is a step toward better health outcomes.
To recap, here are some key strategies to keep in mind as you plan out your language access services:
- Use census data, patient intake forms, and other demographic data to identify the languages that are in highest demand among your patient population.
- Work with a language service provider to identify ways to meet the needs of your LEP patients, such as remote interpreting services, translation, and website localization.
- Train your staff on how to take advantage of language services so that they’re able to ensure smooth, seamless interactions with LEP staff.
As languages continue to evolve and populations shift, healthcare systems must adapt accordingly. The future of equitable care depends on recognizing language as a key determinant of health.
If you’re looking to improve your organization’s language access services, contact Avantpage, use one of our online forms to reach out, email us at [email protected], or call (530) 750-2040.
We offer interpreting and translation solutions to clinics, hospitals, and health insurance providers, empowering them to provide patients with the highest quality care possible, regardless of the language they speak.
