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Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA |
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LANGUAGE
The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 498,550 | 89.70% | 525,673 | 87.43% |
| Spanish | 21,000 | 3.78% | 39,247 | 6.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 28,009 | 5.04% | 24,194 | 4.02% |
| Asian Language** | 3,638 | 0.65% | 6,343 | 1.05% |
| Other | 4,573 | 0.82% | 5,790 | 0.96% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 555,770 | 100.00% | 601,247 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,621 | 39.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,225 | 25.73% |
| Asian Language** | 2,974 | 46.89% |
| Other Language | 2,128 | 36.75% |
| Total | 26,948 | 4.48% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,682 | 46.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,211 | 29.32% |
| Asian Language** | 1,731 | 47.58% |
| Other Language | 1,771 | 38.73% |
| Total | 21,395 | 3.85% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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