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 | 33,572 | 96.07% | 33,601 | 92.81% |
| Spanish | 275 | 0.79% | 1,555 | 4.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 919 | 2.63% | 667 | 1.84% |
| Asian Language** | 177 | 0.51% | 284 | 0.78% |
| Other | 1 | 0.00% | 96 | 0.27% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 34,944 | 100.00% | 36,203 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 883 | 56.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 161 | 24.14% |
| Asian Language** | 193 | 67.96% |
| Other Language | 24 | 25.00% |
| Total | 1,261 | 3.48% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 98 | 35.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 275 | 29.92% |
| Asian Language** | 146 | 82.49% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 519 | 1.49% |
* "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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