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 | 938,660 | 67.70% | 854,337 | 54.62% |
| Spanish | 188,648 | 13.61% | 275,439 | 17.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 73,147 | 5.28% | 112,351 | 7.18% |
| Asian Language** | 174,609 | 12.59% | 304,332 | 19.46% |
| Other | 11,386 | 0.82% | 17,609 | 1.13% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,386,450 | 100.00% | 1,564,068 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 142,627 | 51.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 33,396 | 29.72% |
| Asian Language** | 162,031 | 53.24% |
| Other Language | 5,266 | 29.91% |
| Total | 343,320 | 21.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 84,474 | 44.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,887 | 29.92% |
| Asian Language** | 97,225 | 55.68% |
| Other Language | 3,697 | 32.47% |
| Total | 207,283 | 14.95% |
* "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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