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Abilene, TX

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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 94,912 86.29% 100,846 85.76%
Spanish 12,846 11.68% 14,259 12.13%
Other Indo-European* 1,194 1.09% 1,102 0.94%
Asian Language** 907 0.82% 1,190 1.01%
Other 130 0.12% 190 0.16%
Total Population Age 5+ 109,989 100.00% 117,587 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 4,337 30.42%
Other Indo-European* 216 19.60%
Asian Language** 453 38.07%
Other Language 38 20.00%
Total 5,044 4.29%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 4,713 36.69%
Other Indo-European* 347 29.06%
Asian Language** 355 39.14%
Other Language 19 14.62%
Total 5,434 4.94%

* "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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