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 | 15,643 | 92.96% | 15,267 | 90.42% |
Spanish | 990 | 5.88% | 1,544 | 9.14% |
Other Indo-European* | 151 | 0.90% | 65 | 0.38% |
Asian Language** | 44 | 0.26% | 9 | 0.05% |
Other | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% |
Total Population Age 5+ | 16,828 | 100.00% | 16,885 | 100.00% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
Spanish | 610 | 39.51% |
Other Indo-European* | 5 | 7.69% |
Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% |
Other Language | 0 | - |
Total | 615 | 3.64% |
Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
Spanish | 375 | 37.88% |
Other Indo-European* | 40 | 26.49% |
Asian Language** | 28 | 63.64% |
Other Language | 0 | - |
Total | 443 | 2.63% |
* "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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