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 | 720,055 | 59.25% | 870,065 | 59.20% |
| Spanish | 462,052 | 38.02% | 557,761 | 37.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 22,163 | 1.82% | 22,917 | 1.56% |
| Asian Language** | 9,803 | 0.81% | 15,897 | 1.08% |
| Other | 1,285 | 0.11% | 3,185 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,215,358 | 100.00% | 1,469,825 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 191,301 | 34.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,766 | 20.80% |
| Asian Language** | 7,016 | 44.13% |
| Other Language | 943 | 29.61% |
| Total | 204,026 | 13.88% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 187,156 | 40.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,024 | 22.67% |
| Asian Language** | 4,576 | 46.68% |
| Other Language | 381 | 29.65% |
| Total | 197,137 | 16.22% |
* "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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