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 | 7,068 | 94.97% | 11,014 | 93.89% |
| Spanish | 116 | 1.56% | 349 | 2.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 228 | 3.06% | 334 | 2.85% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 0.09% | 15 | 0.13% |
| Other | 23 | 0.31% | 19 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 7,442 | 100.00% | 11,731 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 129 | 36.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 140 | 41.92% |
| Asian Language** | 5 | 33.33% |
| Other Language | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total | 274 | 2.34% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 60 | 51.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 61 | 26.75% |
| Asian Language** | 7 | 100.00% |
| Other Language | 6 | 26.09% |
| Total | 134 | 1.80% |
* "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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