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 | 13,317 | 98.03% | 18,384 | 93.28% |
| Spanish | 138 | 1.02% | 769 | 3.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 108 | 0.79% | 418 | 2.12% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 0.07% | 124 | 0.63% |
| Other | 12 | 0.09% | 13 | 0.07% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,585 | 100.00% | 19,708 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 330 | 42.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 142 | 33.97% |
| Asian Language** | 53 | 42.74% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 525 | 2.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 76 | 55.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 23 | 21.30% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 100.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 109 | 0.80% |
* "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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