Editing Venezuela (section)

=== Languages ===
{{Main|Languages of Venezuela}}
Although most residents are monolingual Spanish speakers, many languages are spoken in Venezuela. In addition to Spanish, the Constitution recognizes more than thirty Indigenous languages, including [[Wayuu language|Wayuu]], [[Warao language|Warao]], [[Pemon language|Pemón]], and many others for the official use of the Indigenous peoples, mostly with few speakers – less than 1% of the total population. Wayuu is the most spoken Indigenous language, with 170,000 speakers.<ref name="Ethnologue">{{cite web|title=Venezuela|website=Ethnologue|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/VE|access-date=23 January 2017|archive-date=4 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404014153/https://www.ethnologue.com/country/VE|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Palacio de las Academias.JPG|250px|thumb|The [[Academia Venezolana de la Lengua|Venezuelan Academy of Language]] studies the development of the Spanish in the country.]]
Immigrants, in addition to Spanish, speak their own languages. Chinese (400,000), [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] (254,000),<ref name="Ethnologue" /> and Italian (200,000)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bernasconi|first1=Giulia|title=L'Italiano in Venezuela|journal=Italiano LinguaDue|volume=3|date=2012|issue=2|page=20|doi=10.13130/2037-3597/1921|doi-broken-date=1 December 2024 |url=https://www.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doajarticles::e2c6e2d8ae5915079007d321c21defb0|access-date=22 January 2017|language=it|quote=L'italiano come lingua acquisita o riacquisita è largamente diffuso in Venezuela: recenti studi stimano circa 200.000 studenti di italiano nel Paese|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202192545/https://www.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doajarticles::e2c6e2d8ae5915079007d321c21defb0|url-status=dead}}</ref> are the most-spoken languages in Venezuela after the official language of Spanish. Arabic is spoken by Lebanese and Syrian colonies on [[Margarita Island|Isla de Margarita]], Maracaibo, [[Punto Fijo]], [[Puerto la Cruz]], El Tigre, [[Maracay]], and Caracas. Portuguese is spoken not only by the Portuguese community in [[Santa Elena de Uairén]] but also by much of the population due to its proximity to Brazil.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-languages-are-spoken-in-venezuela.html |title=What Languages Are Spoken in Venezuela?|work=WorldAtlas|access-date=17 June 2018}}</ref> The German community speaks their native language, while the people of [[Colonia Tovar]] speak mostly an [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]] dialect of German called [[Colonia Tovar dialect|''alemán coloniero'']].

English is the most widely used foreign language in demand and is spoken by many professionals, academics, and members of the upper and middle classes as a result of the oil exploration by foreign companies, in addition to its acceptance as a [[lingua franca]]. Culturally, English is common in southern towns like [[El Callao Municipality|El Callao]], and the native English-speaking (English-creole speaking) influence is evident in folk and calypso songs from the region. Various dialects of Eastern-Caribbean English-based creoles were brought to Venezuela by [[Trinidadian]] and other [[British West Indies]] immigrants,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3cU-AQAAQBAJ&pg=PT61 |title=Venezuela – Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture|last=Maddicks|first=Russell |date=1 October 2012|publisher=Kuperard|isbn=978-1-85733-661-0}}</ref> they are collectively referred to as [[Venezuelan English Creole]]. A variety of [[Antillean Creole]] is spoken by a small community in El Callao and [[Paria Peninsula|Paria]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/7134415|title=Patuá in Paria: The Status of French-lexicon Creole in Venezuela (pre-published version)|first=Jo-Anne S|last=Ferreira}}</ref> Italian language teaching is delivered by private Venezuelan schools and institutions. Other languages spoken by large communities in the country are [[Basque language|Basque]] and [[Galician language|Galician]], among others.