Kings 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 |
1,280,240 |
60.26% |
1,217,121 |
53.26% |
Spanish |
382,469 |
18.00% |
411,346 |
18.00% |
Other Indo-European* |
333,391 |
15.69% |
456,601 |
19.98% |
Asian Language** |
79,523 |
3.74% |
133,776 |
5.85% |
Other |
48,991 |
2.31% |
66,379 |
2.90% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
2,124,614 |
100.00% |
2,285,223 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
197,017 |
47.90% |
Other Indo-European* |
233,245 |
51.08% |
Asian Language** |
93,649 |
70.00% |
Other Language |
23,152 |
34.88% |
Total |
547,063 |
23.94% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
180,508 |
47.20% |
Other Indo-European* |
156,545 |
46.96% |
Asian Language** |
55,878 |
70.27% |
Other Language |
17,407 |
35.53% |
Total |
410,338 |
19.31% |
* "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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