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 | 12,741 | 97.04% | 12,516 | 96.31% |
| Spanish | 176 | 1.34% | 255 | 1.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 162 | 1.23% | 168 | 1.29% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 0.11% | 39 | 0.30% |
| Other | 37 | 0.28% | 18 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,130 | 100.00% | 12,996 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 92 | 36.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 39 | 23.21% |
| Asian Language** | 20 | 51.28% |
| Other Language | 12 | 66.67% |
| Total | 163 | 1.25% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 61 | 34.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 41 | 25.31% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 42.86% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 108 | 0.82% |
* "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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