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 | 3,874 | 69.66% | 4,599 | 70.80% |
| Spanish | 1,578 | 28.38% | 1,770 | 27.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 107 | 1.92% | 120 | 1.85% |
| Asian Language** | 2 | 0.04% | 7 | 0.11% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,561 | 100.00% | 6,496 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 516 | 29.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 37 | 30.83% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 553 | 8.51% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 861 | 54.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26 | 24.30% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 887 | 15.95% |
* "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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