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 | 384,762 | 97.10% | 417,612 | 95.60% |
| Spanish | 4,478 | 1.13% | 9,151 | 2.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,736 | 1.20% | 6,199 | 1.42% |
| Asian Language** | 1,757 | 0.44% | 3,179 | 0.73% |
| Other | 534 | 0.13% | 708 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 396,267 | 100.00% | 436,849 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,552 | 38.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,964 | 31.68% |
| Asian Language** | 1,581 | 49.73% |
| Other Language | 196 | 27.68% |
| Total | 7,293 | 1.67% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,530 | 34.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,382 | 29.18% |
| Asian Language** | 858 | 48.83% |
| Other Language | 160 | 29.96% |
| Total | 3,930 | 0.99% |
* "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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