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 | 6,366 | 84.27% | 5,104 | 84.03% |
| Spanish | 66 | 0.87% | 45 | 0.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 124 | 1.64% | 40 | 0.66% |
| Asian Language** | 54 | 0.71% | 13 | 0.21% |
| Other | 944 | 12.50% | 872 | 14.36% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 7,554 | 100.00% | 6,074 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9 | 20.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4 | 10.00% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 221 | 25.34% |
| Total | 234 | 3.85% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 20 | 30.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19 | 15.32% |
| Asian Language** | 25 | 46.30% |
| Other Language | 330 | 34.96% |
| Total | 394 | 5.22% |
* "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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