 As of 2010 , 85 @.@ 87 % ( 6 @,@ 299 @,@ 127 ) of Virginia residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language , while 6 @.@ 41 % ( 470 @,@ 058 ) spoke Spanish , 0 @.@ 77 % ( 56 @,@ 518 ) Korean , 0 @.@ 63 % ( 45 @,@ 881 ) Vietnamese , 0 @.@ 57 % ( 42 @,@ 418 ) Chinese ( which includes Mandarin ) , and Tagalog was spoken as a main language by 0 @.@ 56 % ( 40 @,@ 724 ) of the population over the age of five . In total , 14 @.@ 13 % ( 1 @,@ 036 @,@ 442 ) of Virginia 's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English . English was passed as the Commonwealth 's official language by statutes in 1981 and again in 1996 , though the status is not mandated by the Constitution of Virginia . 
