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 | 12,585 | 97.83% | 12,683 | 91.83% |
| Spanish | 75 | 0.58% | 526 | 3.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 193 | 1.50% | 558 | 4.04% |
| Asian Language** | 11 | 0.09% | 19 | 0.14% |
| Other | 0 | 0.00% | 26 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 12,864 | 100.00% | 13,812 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 463 | 88.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 233 | 41.76% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 73.68% |
| Other Language | 12 | 46.15% |
| Total | 722 | 5.23% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 21 | 28.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 32 | 16.58% |
| Asian Language** | 3 | 27.27% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 56 | 0.44% |
* "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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