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Springfield, MO

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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 239,747 97.12% 292,773 96.12%
Spanish 2,292 0.93% 5,152 1.69%
Other Indo-European* 3,540 1.43% 4,708 1.55%
Asian Language** 1,092 0.44% 1,587 0.52%
Other 190 0.08% 373 0.12%
Total Population Age 5+ 246,861 100.00% 304,593 100.00%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 1,739 33.75%
Other Indo-European* 1,284 27.27%
Asian Language** 782 49.28%
Other Language 113 30.29%
Total 3,918 1.29%

Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990
Language Spoken at Home: Number Percent
Spanish 706 30.80%
Other Indo-European* 1,166 32.94%
Asian Language** 513 46.98%
Other Language 33 17.37%
Total 2,418 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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