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 | 5,492,493 | 80.28% | 5,631,315 | 73.53% |
| Spanish | 672,365 | 9.83% | 1,155,221 | 15.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 483,581 | 7.07% | 579,351 | 7.56% |
| Asian Language** | 147,299 | 2.15% | 221,402 | 2.89% |
| Other | 46,044 | 0.67% | 71,222 | 0.93% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 6,841,782 | 100.00% | 7,658,511 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 624,670 | 54.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 237,723 | 41.03% |
| Asian Language** | 98,929 | 44.68% |
| Other Language | 22,481 | 31.56% |
| Total | 983,803 | 12.85% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 347,807 | 51.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 175,519 | 36.30% |
| Asian Language** | 70,985 | 48.19% |
| Other Language | 14,968 | 32.51% |
| Total | 609,279 | 8.91% |
* "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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