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 | 13,899 | 90.68% | 13,979 | 75.33% |
| Spanish | 1,001 | 6.53% | 3,954 | 21.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 188 | 1.23% | 173 | 0.93% |
| Asian Language** | 221 | 1.44% | 434 | 2.34% |
| Other | 19 | 0.12% | 17 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 15,328 | 100.00% | 18,557 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,331 | 58.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 32 | 18.50% |
| Asian Language** | 323 | 74.42% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 2,686 | 14.47% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 525 | 52.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 45 | 23.94% |
| Asian Language** | 135 | 61.09% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 705 | 4.60% |
* "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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