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 | 1,498,978 | 77.78% | 1,505,184 | 67.48% |
| Spanish | 161,323 | 8.37% | 308,252 | 13.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 88,057 | 4.57% | 127,414 | 5.71% |
| Asian Language** | 166,762 | 8.65% | 270,894 | 12.15% |
| Other | 12,096 | 0.63% | 18,684 | 0.84% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,927,216 | 100.00% | 2,230,428 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 161,056 | 52.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 38,708 | 30.38% |
| Asian Language** | 134,377 | 49.61% |
| Other Language | 4,918 | 26.32% |
| Total | 339,059 | 15.20% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 71,992 | 44.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26,711 | 30.33% |
| Asian Language** | 86,246 | 51.72% |
| Other Language | 4,089 | 33.80% |
| Total | 189,038 | 9.81% |
* "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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