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 | 230,162 | 72.89% | 284,990 | 79.87% |
| Spanish | 2,281 | 0.72% | 4,084 | 1.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 81,428 | 25.79% | 64,803 | 18.16% |
| Asian Language** | 1,507 | 0.48% | 2,204 | 0.62% |
| Other | 382 | 0.12% | 728 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 315,760 | 100.00% | 356,809 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,333 | 32.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,899 | 22.99% |
| Asian Language** | 1,031 | 46.78% |
| Other Language | 201 | 27.61% |
| Total | 17,464 | 4.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 523 | 22.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24,140 | 29.65% |
| Asian Language** | 862 | 57.20% |
| Other Language | 243 | 63.61% |
| Total | 25,768 | 8.16% |
* "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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