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 | 254,331 | 93.27% | 354,567 | 89.22% |
| Spanish | 11,686 | 4.29% | 28,934 | 7.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,905 | 1.43% | 8,357 | 2.10% |
| Asian Language** | 1,813 | 0.66% | 4,271 | 1.07% |
| Other | 944 | 0.35% | 1,292 | 0.33% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 272,679 | 100.00% | 397,421 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,664 | 43.77% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,012 | 36.04% |
| Asian Language** | 2,031 | 47.55% |
| Other Language | 377 | 29.18% |
| Total | 18,084 | 4.55% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,713 | 40.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,065 | 27.27% |
| Asian Language** | 888 | 48.98% |
| Other Language | 291 | 30.83% |
| Total | 6,957 | 2.55% |
* "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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