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McHenry County |
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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 | 155,941 | 93.14% | 213,070 | 89.11% |
| Spanish | 4,899 | 2.93% | 15,248 | 6.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,752 | 3.44% | 8,762 | 3.66% |
| Asian Language** | 534 | 0.32% | 1,674 | 0.70% |
| Other | 307 | 0.18% | 356 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 167,433 | 100.00% | 239,110 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,456 | 55.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,320 | 26.48% |
| Asian Language** | 570 | 34.05% |
| Other Language | 117 | 32.87% |
| Total | 11,463 | 4.79% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,500 | 51.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,801 | 31.31% |
| Asian Language** | 166 | 31.09% |
| Other Language | 151 | 49.19% |
| Total | 4,618 | 2.76% |
* "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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