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 | 309,531 | 95.06% | 313,508 | 93.47% |
| Spanish | 8,051 | 2.47% | 13,528 | 4.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,363 | 1.95% | 5,208 | 1.55% |
| Asian Language** | 1,360 | 0.42% | 2,668 | 0.80% |
| Other | 296 | 0.09% | 514 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 325,601 | 100.00% | 335,426 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,046 | 44.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,506 | 28.92% |
| Asian Language** | 1,330 | 49.85% |
| Other Language | 149 | 28.99% |
| Total | 9,031 | 2.69% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,021 | 37.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,935 | 30.41% |
| Asian Language** | 692 | 50.88% |
| Other Language | 54 | 18.24% |
| Total | 5,702 | 1.75% |
* "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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