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 | 10,620 | 96.76% | 13,178 | 92.79% |
| Spanish | 194 | 1.77% | 777 | 5.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 162 | 1.48% | 169 | 1.19% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% | 70 | 0.49% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 8 | 0.06% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 10,976 | 100.00% | 14,202 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 421 | 54.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 58 | 34.32% |
| Asian Language** | 43 | 61.43% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 522 | 3.68% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 111 | 57.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 49 | 30.25% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 160 | 1.46% |
* "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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