New York
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 |
12,834,328 |
76.65% |
12,786,189 |
72.04% |
Spanish |
1,848,825 |
11.04% |
2,416,126 |
13.61% |
Other Indo-European* |
1,446,881 |
8.64% |
1,654,540 |
9.32% |
Asian Language** |
459,873 |
2.75% |
671,019 |
3.78% |
Other |
153,141 |
0.91% |
221,236 |
1.25% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
16,743,048 |
100.00% |
17,749,110 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
1,182,068 |
48.92% |
Other Indo-European* |
663,874 |
40.12% |
Asian Language** |
395,159 |
58.89% |
Other Language |
69,155 |
31.26% |
Total |
2,310,256 |
13.02% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
900,906 |
48.73% |
Other Indo-European* |
537,678 |
37.16% |
Asian Language** |
278,017 |
60.46% |
Other Language |
48,925 |
31.95% |
Total |
1,765,526 |
10.54% |
* "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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