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 | 198,780 | 85.78% | 236,862 | 82.87% |
| Spanish | 20,432 | 8.82% | 32,954 | 11.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,391 | 3.19% | 8,747 | 3.06% |
| Asian Language** | 4,760 | 2.05% | 6,590 | 2.31% |
| Other | 356 | 0.15% | 686 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 231,719 | 100.00% | 285,839 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,128 | 30.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,653 | 18.90% |
| Asian Language** | 2,682 | 40.70% |
| Other Language | 170 | 24.78% |
| Total | 14,633 | 5.12% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,936 | 33.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,661 | 22.47% |
| Asian Language** | 2,290 | 48.11% |
| Other Language | 90 | 25.28% |
| Total | 10,977 | 4.74% |
* "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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