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 | 4,218 | 96.24% | 4,988 | 91.74% |
| Spanish | 98 | 2.24% | 289 | 5.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 33 | 0.75% | 56 | 1.03% |
| Asian Language** | 17 | 0.39% | 45 | 0.83% |
| Other | 17 | 0.39% | 59 | 1.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,383 | 100.00% | 5,437 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 177 | 61.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10 | 17.86% |
| Asian Language** | 31 | 68.89% |
| Other Language | 47 | 79.66% |
| Total | 265 | 4.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 37 | 37.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2 | 6.06% |
| Asian Language** | 3 | 17.65% |
| Other Language | 9 | 52.94% |
| Total | 51 | 1.16% |
* "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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