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LANGUAGE
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 | 892,846 | 96.43% | 988,080 | 94.17% |
| Spanish | 13,138 | 1.42% | 31,664 | 3.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,347 | 1.33% | 14,782 | 1.41% |
| Asian Language** | 6,078 | 0.66% | 10,982 | 1.05% |
| Other | 1,537 | 0.17% | 3,724 | 0.35% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 925,946 | 100.00% | 1,049,232 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,843 | 50.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,912 | 26.46% |
| Asian Language** | 5,998 | 54.62% |
| Other Language | 1,175 | 31.55% |
| Total | 26,928 | 2.57% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,575 | 34.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,878 | 31.41% |
| Asian Language** | 2,876 | 47.32% |
| Other Language | 301 | 19.58% |
| Total | 11,630 | 1.26% |
* "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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