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Hickory-Morganton-Lenoir, NC

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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 266,335 97.31% 296,700 92.78%
Spanish 3,105 1.13% 13,589 4.25%
Other Indo-European* 3,004 1.10% 2,813 0.88%
Asian Language** 1,120 0.41% 6,355 1.99%
Other 127 0.05% 328 0.10%
Total Population Age 5+ 273,691 100.00% 319,785 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 8,225 60.53%
Other Indo-European* 866 30.79%
Asian Language** 3,620 56.96%
Other Language 125 38.11%
Total 12,836 4.01%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,327 42.74%
Other Indo-European* 996 33.16%
Asian Language** 668 59.64%
Other Language 45 35.43%
Total 3,036 1.11%

* "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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