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 | 155,904 | 95.61% | 178,142 | 92.77% |
| Spanish | 1,917 | 1.18% | 7,863 | 4.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,498 | 0.92% | 1,437 | 0.75% |
| Asian Language** | 2,761 | 1.69% | 3,455 | 1.80% |
| Other | 975 | 0.60% | 1,127 | 0.59% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 163,055 | 100.00% | 192,024 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,429 | 56.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 306 | 21.29% |
| Asian Language** | 2,059 | 59.59% |
| Other Language | 307 | 27.24% |
| Total | 7,101 | 3.70% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 610 | 31.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 319 | 21.30% |
| Asian Language** | 1,511 | 54.73% |
| Other Language | 301 | 30.87% |
| Total | 2,741 | 1.68% |
* "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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