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 | 400,237 | 95.21% | 433,384 | 93.28% |
| Spanish | 6,180 | 1.47% | 13,485 | 2.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,069 | 2.87% | 13,684 | 2.95% |
| Asian Language** | 1,426 | 0.34% | 3,169 | 0.68% |
| Other | 475 | 0.11% | 860 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 420,387 | 100.00% | 464,582 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,153 | 45.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,970 | 29.01% |
| Asian Language** | 1,711 | 53.99% |
| Other Language | 327 | 38.02% |
| Total | 12,161 | 2.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,005 | 32.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,760 | 39.44% |
| Asian Language** | 826 | 57.92% |
| Other Language | 110 | 23.16% |
| Total | 7,701 | 1.83% |
* "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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