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Akron, OH |
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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 | 581,821 | 95.02% | 615,295 | 94.69% |
| Spanish | 5,677 | 0.93% | 8,034 | 1.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,096 | 2.96% | 17,036 | 2.62% |
| Asian Language** | 3,646 | 0.60% | 5,826 | 0.90% |
| Other | 3,052 | 0.50% | 3,599 | 0.55% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 612,292 | 100.00% | 649,790 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,365 | 29.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,802 | 28.19% |
| Asian Language** | 2,823 | 48.46% |
| Other Language | 983 | 27.31% |
| Total | 10,973 | 1.69% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,681 | 29.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,388 | 29.77% |
| Asian Language** | 1,996 | 54.74% |
| Other Language | 1,057 | 34.63% |
| Total | 10,122 | 1.65% |
* "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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