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 | 3,886 | 68.90% | 6,147 | 81.83% |
| Spanish | 1,533 | 27.18% | 1,276 | 16.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 189 | 3.35% | 79 | 1.05% |
| Asian Language** | 9 | 0.16% | 6 | 0.08% |
| Other | 23 | 0.41% | 4 | 0.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,640 | 100.00% | 7,512 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 262 | 20.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13 | 16.46% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 275 | 3.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 191 | 12.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16 | 8.47% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 3 | 13.04% |
| Total | 210 | 3.72% |
* "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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