Charlottesville, VA

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 115,968 94.89% 138,140 91.94%
Spanish 1,471 1.20% 3,998 2.66%
Other Indo-European* 3,054 2.50% 4,516 3.01%
Asian Language** 1,527 1.25% 3,118 2.08%
Other 195 0.16% 472 0.31%
Total Population Age 5+ 122,215 100.00% 150,244 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,499 37.49%
Other Indo-European* 1,008 22.32%
Asian Language** 1,266 40.60%
Other Language 140 29.66%
Total 3,913 2.60%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 495 33.65%
Other Indo-European* 650 21.28%
Asian Language** 678 44.40%
Other Language 72 36.92%
Total 1,895 1.55%

* "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).

Home | About | Help | Contact | Use Policy