Shreveport-Bossier City, LA

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 336,478 97.03% 349,999 95.90%
Spanish 3,979 1.15% 7,053 1.93%
Other Indo-European* 4,617 1.33% 4,971 1.36%
Asian Language** 1,521 0.44% 2,305 0.63%
Other 187 0.05% 617 0.17%
Total Population Age 5+ 346,782 100.00% 364,945 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 2,484 35.22%
Other Indo-European* 1,183 23.80%
Asian Language** 1,021 44.30%
Other Language 132 21.39%
Total 4,820 1.32%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,321 33.20%
Other Indo-European* 1,353 29.30%
Asian Language** 687 45.17%
Other Language 73 39.04%
Total 3,434 0.99%

* "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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy