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Lansing-East Lansing, MI |
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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 | 374,962 | 93.48% | 385,117 | 91.86% |
| Spanish | 9,948 | 2.48% | 13,043 | 3.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,996 | 2.24% | 10,503 | 2.51% |
| Asian Language** | 5,049 | 1.26% | 7,980 | 1.90% |
| Other | 2,163 | 0.54% | 2,579 | 0.62% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 401,118 | 100.00% | 419,222 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,117 | 31.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,033 | 28.88% |
| Asian Language** | 4,189 | 52.49% |
| Other Language | 808 | 31.33% |
| Total | 12,147 | 2.90% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,050 | 30.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,399 | 26.67% |
| Asian Language** | 2,719 | 53.85% |
| Other Language | 494 | 22.84% |
| Total | 8,662 | 2.16% |
* "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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