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 | 231,579 | 89.85% | 263,934 | 82.20% |
| Spanish | 15,674 | 6.08% | 43,005 | 13.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,850 | 2.66% | 8,532 | 2.66% |
| Asian Language** | 3,113 | 1.21% | 4,730 | 1.47% |
| Other | 521 | 0.20% | 887 | 0.28% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 257,737 | 100.00% | 321,088 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 25,678 | 59.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,441 | 40.33% |
| Asian Language** | 2,568 | 54.29% |
| Other Language | 340 | 38.33% |
| Total | 32,027 | 9.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,302 | 46.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,392 | 34.92% |
| Asian Language** | 1,710 | 54.93% |
| Other Language | 165 | 31.67% |
| Total | 11,569 | 4.49% |
* "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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