Kanawha 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 |
189,961 |
97.20% |
182,783 |
96.88% |
Spanish |
1,717 |
0.88% |
2,040 |
1.08% |
Other Indo-European* |
2,724 |
1.39% |
2,230 |
1.18% |
Asian Language** |
629 |
0.32% |
1,068 |
0.57% |
Other |
399 |
0.20% |
553 |
0.29% |
Total Population Age 5+ |
195,430 |
100.00% |
188,674 |
100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
658 |
32.25% |
Other Indo-European* |
508 |
22.78% |
Asian Language** |
313 |
29.31% |
Other Language |
103 |
18.63% |
Total |
1,582 |
0.84% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
|
Language Spoken at Home: |
Number |
Percent |
Spanish |
668 |
38.91% |
Other Indo-European* |
822 |
30.18% |
Asian Language** |
221 |
35.14% |
Other Language |
98 |
24.56% |
Total |
1,809 |
0.93% |
* "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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