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 | 343,729 | 91.23% | 418,495 | 89.18% |
| Spanish | 14,923 | 3.96% | 28,540 | 6.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,409 | 4.09% | 17,422 | 3.71% |
| Asian Language** | 1,545 | 0.41% | 2,895 | 0.62% |
| Other | 1,181 | 0.31% | 1,908 | 0.41% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 376,787 | 100.00% | 469,260 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,659 | 40.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,894 | 28.09% |
| Asian Language** | 1,375 | 47.50% |
| Other Language | 609 | 31.92% |
| Total | 18,537 | 3.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,063 | 47.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,474 | 29.03% |
| Asian Language** | 586 | 37.93% |
| Other Language | 270 | 22.86% |
| Total | 12,393 | 3.29% |
* "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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