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Nassau-Suffolk, NY |
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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 | 2,073,417 | 85.06% | 2,053,709 | 79.97% |
| Spanish | 126,618 | 5.19% | 230,716 | 8.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 189,313 | 7.77% | 208,425 | 8.12% |
| Asian Language** | 34,774 | 1.43% | 56,335 | 2.19% |
| Other | 13,375 | 0.55% | 18,868 | 0.73% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,437,497 | 100.00% | 2,568,053 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 111,011 | 48.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 61,119 | 29.32% |
| Asian Language** | 24,198 | 42.95% |
| Other Language | 4,022 | 21.32% |
| Total | 200,350 | 7.80% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 55,928 | 44.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 56,816 | 30.01% |
| Asian Language** | 16,367 | 47.07% |
| Other Language | 3,491 | 26.10% |
| Total | 132,602 | 5.44% |
* "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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