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 | 262,046 | 96.80% | 298,967 | 96.32% |
| Spanish | 3,698 | 1.37% | 5,524 | 1.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,115 | 1.15% | 3,406 | 1.10% |
| Asian Language** | 1,517 | 0.56% | 2,003 | 0.65% |
| Other | 323 | 0.12% | 475 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 270,699 | 100.00% | 310,375 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,130 | 38.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 860 | 25.25% |
| Asian Language** | 966 | 48.23% |
| Other Language | 111 | 23.37% |
| Total | 4,067 | 1.31% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,193 | 32.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 809 | 25.97% |
| Asian Language** | 802 | 52.87% |
| Other Language | 41 | 12.69% |
| Total | 2,845 | 1.05% |
* "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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