Orange 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 |
82,622 |
93.17% |
99,035 |
88.07% |
Spanish |
1,734 |
1.96% |
5,880 |
5.23% |
Other Indo-European* |
2,141 |
2.41% |
3,512 |
3.12% |
Asian Language** |
1,530 |
1.73% |
3,336 |
2.97% |
Other |
648 |
0.73% |
681 |
0.61% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
88,675 |
100.00% |
112,444 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
2,858 |
48.61% |
Other Indo-European* |
593 |
16.88% |
Asian Language** |
1,644 |
49.28% |
Other Language |
94 |
13.80% |
Total |
5,189 |
4.61% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
601 |
34.66% |
Other Indo-European* |
464 |
21.67% |
Asian Language** |
768 |
50.20% |
Other Language |
145 |
22.38% |
Total |
1,978 |
2.23% |
* "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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