Plymouth County

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 21,076 97.25% 22,482 96.91%
Spanish 283 1.31% 411 1.77%
Other Indo-European* 306 1.41% 253 1.09%
Asian Language** 6 0.03% 35 0.15%
Other 0 0.00% 18 0.08%
Total Population Age 5+ 21,671 100.00% 23,199 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 228 55.47%
Other Indo-European* 24 9.49%
Asian Language** 21 60.00%
Other Language 0 0.00%
Total 273 1.18%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 147 51.94%
Other Indo-European* 125 40.85%
Asian Language** 0 -
Other Language 0 -
Total 272 1.26%

* "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