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 | 12,514 | 93.37% | 15,455 | 94.75% |
| Spanish | 431 | 3.22% | 559 | 3.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 358 | 2.67% | 189 | 1.16% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 0.10% | 71 | 0.44% |
| Other | 85 | 0.63% | 37 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 13,402 | 100.00% | 16,311 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 81 | 14.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 31 | 16.40% |
| Asian Language** | 40 | 56.34% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 152 | 0.93% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 203 | 47.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 75 | 20.95% |
| Asian Language** | 0 | - |
| Other Language | 15 | 17.65% |
| Total | 293 | 2.19% |
* "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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