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 | 750,870 | 96.93% | 846,875 | 94.27% |
| Spanish | 8,281 | 1.07% | 28,104 | 3.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,776 | 1.52% | 14,169 | 1.58% |
| Asian Language** | 2,799 | 0.36% | 7,551 | 0.84% |
| Other | 941 | 0.12% | 1,690 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 774,667 | 100.00% | 898,389 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 14,460 | 51.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,094 | 28.89% |
| Asian Language** | 4,010 | 53.11% |
| Other Language | 600 | 35.50% |
| Total | 23,164 | 2.58% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,949 | 35.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,285 | 27.90% |
| Asian Language** | 1,349 | 48.20% |
| Other Language | 256 | 27.21% |
| Total | 7,839 | 1.01% |
* "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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