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 | 32,287 | 93.35% | 34,958 | 94.72% |
| Spanish | 825 | 2.39% | 812 | 2.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,268 | 3.67% | 962 | 2.61% |
| Asian Language** | 72 | 0.21% | 136 | 0.37% |
| Other | 134 | 0.39% | 40 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 34,586 | 100.00% | 36,908 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 494 | 60.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 268 | 27.86% |
| Asian Language** | 66 | 48.53% |
| Other Language | 8 | 20.00% |
| Total | 836 | 2.27% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 407 | 49.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 280 | 22.08% |
| Asian Language** | 33 | 45.83% |
| Other Language | 30 | 22.39% |
| Total | 750 | 2.17% |
* "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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