Schoolcraft 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 7,584 97.13% 8,149 96.95%
Spanish 30 0.38% 73 0.87%
Other Indo-European* 175 2.24% 129 1.53%
Asian Language** 2 0.03% 8 0.10%
Other 17 0.22% 46 0.55%
Total Population Age 5+ 7,808 100.00% 8,405 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 16 21.92%
Other Indo-European* 32 24.81%
Asian Language** 3 37.50%
Other Language 9 19.57%
Total 60 0.71%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 12 40.00%
Other Indo-European* 64 36.57%
Asian Language** 2 100.00%
Other Language 12 70.59%
Total 90 1.15%

* "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