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 | 71,601 | 65.74% | 91,986 | 66.26% |
| Spanish | 34,225 | 31.42% | 41,137 | 29.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,645 | 1.51% | 3,154 | 2.27% |
| Asian Language** | 410 | 0.38% | 1,117 | 0.80% |
| Other | 1,041 | 0.96% | 1,438 | 1.04% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 108,922 | 100.00% | 138,832 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,463 | 30.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 635 | 20.13% |
| Asian Language** | 481 | 43.06% |
| Other Language | 187 | 13.00% |
| Total | 13,766 | 9.92% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,324 | 27.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 313 | 19.03% |
| Asian Language** | 217 | 52.93% |
| Other Language | 139 | 13.35% |
| Total | 9,993 | 9.17% |
* "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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