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 | 442,320 | 95.37% | 481,665 | 93.99% |
| Spanish | 8,496 | 1.83% | 14,649 | 2.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,691 | 1.87% | 10,018 | 1.95% |
| Asian Language** | 3,620 | 0.78% | 5,170 | 1.01% |
| Other | 647 | 0.14% | 974 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 463,774 | 100.00% | 512,476 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,136 | 41.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,299 | 22.95% |
| Asian Language** | 2,435 | 47.10% |
| Other Language | 343 | 35.22% |
| Total | 11,213 | 2.19% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,910 | 34.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,270 | 26.12% |
| Asian Language** | 1,491 | 41.19% |
| Other Language | 156 | 24.11% |
| Total | 6,827 | 1.47% |
* "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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