Arkansas
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 |
2,125,884 |
97.22% |
2,368,450 |
95.03% |
Spanish |
27,351 |
1.25% |
82,465 |
3.31% |
Other Indo-European* |
21,976 |
1.01% |
22,695 |
0.91% |
Asian Language** |
8,972 |
0.41% |
15,238 |
0.61% |
Other |
2,482 |
0.11% |
3,357 |
0.13% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
2,186,665 |
100.00% |
2,492,205 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
43,535 |
52.79% |
Other Indo-European* |
5,332 |
23.49% |
Asian Language** |
7,865 |
51.61% |
Other Language |
977 |
29.10% |
Total |
57,709 |
2.32% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
10,066 |
36.80% |
Other Indo-European* |
6,323 |
28.77% |
Asian Language** |
4,310 |
48.04% |
Other Language |
686 |
27.64% |
Total |
21,385 |
0.98% |
* "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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