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 | 178,550 | 55.56% | 202,943 | 57.74% |
| Spanish | 137,805 | 42.88% | 142,063 | 40.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,483 | 1.08% | 3,449 | 0.98% |
| Asian Language** | 1,249 | 0.39% | 2,651 | 0.75% |
| Other | 253 | 0.08% | 389 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 321,340 | 100.00% | 351,495 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 45,577 | 32.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 726 | 21.05% |
| Asian Language** | 931 | 35.12% |
| Other Language | 55 | 14.14% |
| Total | 47,289 | 13.45% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 54,118 | 39.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 815 | 23.40% |
| Asian Language** | 486 | 38.91% |
| Other Language | 60 | 23.72% |
| Total | 55,479 | 17.26% |
* "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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