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 | 12,094 | 97.78% | 12,508 | 97.93% |
| Spanish | 92 | 0.74% | 169 | 1.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 166 | 1.34% | 71 | 0.56% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 0.14% | 24 | 0.19% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 12,369 | 100.00% | 12,772 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 39 | 23.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10 | 14.08% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 37.50% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 58 | 0.45% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 41 | 44.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 49 | 29.52% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 58.82% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 100 | 0.81% |
* "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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