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Yakima, WA

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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 134,304 77.98% 138,737 68.19%
Spanish 33,697 19.57% 60,533 29.75%
Other Indo-European* 2,184 1.27% 1,927 0.95%
Asian Language** 1,094 0.64% 1,214 0.60%
Other 949 0.55% 1,038 0.51%
Total Population Age 5+ 172,228 100.00% 203,449 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 31,573 52.16%
Other Indo-European* 539 27.97%
Asian Language** 522 43.00%
Other Language 284 27.36%
Total 32,918 16.18%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 17,518 51.99%
Other Indo-European* 618 28.30%
Asian Language** 448 40.95%
Other Language 186 19.60%
Total 18,770 10.90%

* "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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