Indiana
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 |
4,900,334 |
95.22% |
5,295,736 |
93.60% |
Spanish |
90,146 |
1.75% |
185,576 |
3.28% |
Other Indo-European* |
123,751 |
2.40% |
126,530 |
2.24% |
Asian Language** |
22,894 |
0.44% |
36,707 |
0.65% |
Other |
9,035 |
0.18% |
13,269 |
0.23% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
5,146,160 |
100.00% |
5,657,818 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
84,355 |
45.46% |
Other Indo-European* |
37,637 |
29.75% |
Asian Language** |
17,798 |
48.49% |
Other Language |
3,637 |
27.41% |
Total |
143,427 |
2.54% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
31,276 |
34.69% |
Other Indo-European* |
41,879 |
33.84% |
Asian Language** |
11,017 |
48.12% |
Other Language |
2,810 |
31.10% |
Total |
86,982 |
1.69% |
* "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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