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LANGUAGE
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 | 13,215 | 96.83% | 16,302 | 94.08% |
| Spanish | 132 | 0.97% | 623 | 3.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 256 | 1.88% | 360 | 2.08% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 0.12% | 25 | 0.14% |
| Other | 28 | 0.21% | 18 | 0.10% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,648 | 100.00% | 17,328 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 350 | 56.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 40 | 11.11% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
| Other Language | 5 | 27.78% |
| Total | 395 | 2.28% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 61 | 46.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27 | 10.55% |
| Asian Language** | 5 | 29.41% |
| Other Language | 16 | 57.14% |
| Total | 109 | 0.80% |
* "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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