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 | 5,537 | 94.76% | 6,338 | 96.07% |
| Spanish | 11 | 0.19% | 60 | 0.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 163 | 2.79% | 128 | 1.94% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | 0.00% | 13 | 0.20% |
| Other | 132 | 2.26% | 58 | 0.88% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,843 | 100.00% | 6,597 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10 | 16.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 35 | 27.34% |
| Asian Language** | 3 | 23.08% |
| Other Language | 5 | 8.62% |
| Total | 53 | 0.80% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 0 | - |
| Other Indo-European* | 14 | 8.59% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 31 | 23.48% |
| Total | 45 | 0.77% |
* "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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