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 | 14,909 | 95.78% | 14,175 | 89.46% |
| Spanish | 137 | 0.88% | 1,462 | 9.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 490 | 3.15% | 175 | 1.10% |
| Asian Language** | 30 | 0.19% | 20 | 0.13% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 13 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 15,566 | 100.00% | 15,845 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 955 | 65.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36 | 20.57% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 30.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 997 | 6.29% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 52 | 37.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 165 | 33.67% |
| Asian Language** | 28 | 93.33% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 245 | 1.57% |
* "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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