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 | 1,783,131 | 75.94% | 1,992,386 | 66.53% |
| Spanish | 438,628 | 18.68% | 828,767 | 27.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 55,145 | 2.35% | 61,143 | 2.04% |
| Asian Language** | 60,636 | 2.58% | 94,883 | 3.17% |
| Other | 10,438 | 0.44% | 17,473 | 0.58% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,347,978 | 100.00% | 2,994,652 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 398,217 | 48.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,481 | 26.95% |
| Asian Language** | 42,405 | 44.69% |
| Other Language | 5,445 | 31.16% |
| Total | 462,548 | 15.45% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 205,671 | 46.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,264 | 25.87% |
| Asian Language** | 28,887 | 47.64% |
| Other Language | 3,183 | 30.49% |
| Total | 252,005 | 10.73% |
* "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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