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 | 10,922 | 91.87% | 11,385 | 87.23% |
| Spanish | 76 | 0.64% | 833 | 6.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 821 | 6.91% | 670 | 5.13% |
| Asian Language** | 62 | 0.52% | 116 | 0.89% |
| Other | 7 | 0.06% | 47 | 0.36% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 11,888 | 100.00% | 13,051 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 531 | 63.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 214 | 31.94% |
| Asian Language** | 66 | 56.90% |
| Other Language | 19 | 40.43% |
| Total | 830 | 6.36% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 16 | 21.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 159 | 19.37% |
| Asian Language** | 47 | 75.81% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 222 | 1.87% |
* "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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