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 | 349,441 | 94.59% | 355,882 | 94.43% |
| Spanish | 9,039 | 2.45% | 10,830 | 2.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,984 | 2.43% | 7,239 | 1.92% |
| Asian Language** | 1,468 | 0.40% | 2,160 | 0.57% |
| Other | 514 | 0.14% | 760 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 369,446 | 100.00% | 376,871 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,047 | 28.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,736 | 23.98% |
| Asian Language** | 1,003 | 46.44% |
| Other Language | 191 | 25.13% |
| Total | 5,977 | 1.59% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,607 | 28.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,490 | 27.72% |
| Asian Language** | 574 | 39.10% |
| Other Language | 146 | 28.40% |
| Total | 5,817 | 1.57% |
* "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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