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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 | 11,987 | 96.53% | 13,871 | 95.52% |
| Spanish | 270 | 2.17% | 484 | 3.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 145 | 1.17% | 74 | 0.51% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 0.08% | 53 | 0.36% |
| Other | 6 | 0.05% | 40 | 0.28% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 12,418 | 100.00% | 14,522 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 253 | 52.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36 | 48.65% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 58.49% |
| Other Language | 27 | 67.50% |
| Total | 347 | 2.39% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 214 | 79.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 58 | 40.00% |
| Asian Language** | 3 | 30.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 275 | 2.21% |
* "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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