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 | 303,310 | 95.16% | 361,928 | 93.62% |
| Spanish | 5,804 | 1.82% | 10,373 | 2.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,545 | 1.74% | 7,178 | 1.86% |
| Asian Language** | 3,799 | 1.19% | 6,328 | 1.64% |
| Other | 293 | 0.09% | 797 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 318,751 | 100.00% | 386,604 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,253 | 31.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,898 | 26.44% |
| Asian Language** | 2,421 | 38.26% |
| Other Language | 205 | 25.72% |
| Total | 7,777 | 2.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,717 | 29.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,408 | 25.39% |
| Asian Language** | 1,733 | 45.62% |
| Other Language | 112 | 38.23% |
| Total | 4,970 | 1.56% |
* "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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