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 | 11,932 | 97.56% | 17,883 | 95.62% |
| Spanish | 153 | 1.25% | 524 | 2.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 121 | 0.99% | 210 | 1.12% |
| Asian Language** | 24 | 0.20% | 7 | 0.04% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 79 | 0.42% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 12,230 | 100.00% | 18,703 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 202 | 38.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 60 | 28.57% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 100.00% |
| Other Language | 20 | 25.32% |
| Total | 289 | 1.55% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 76 | 49.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 37 | 30.58% |
| Asian Language** | 21 | 87.50% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 134 | 1.10% |
* "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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