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 | 7,929 | 92.37% | 7,791 | 90.27% |
| Spanish | 341 | 3.97% | 494 | 5.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 254 | 2.96% | 264 | 3.06% |
| Asian Language** | 16 | 0.19% | 59 | 0.68% |
| Other | 44 | 0.51% | 23 | 0.27% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 8,584 | 100.00% | 8,631 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 143 | 28.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53 | 20.08% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 55.93% |
| Other Language | 6 | 26.09% |
| Total | 235 | 2.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 95 | 27.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 65 | 25.59% |
| Asian Language** | 10 | 62.50% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 170 | 1.98% |
* "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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