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 | 314,650 | 87.44% | 345,971 | 80.16% |
| Spanish | 25,049 | 6.96% | 59,480 | 13.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,228 | 3.68% | 14,305 | 3.31% |
| Asian Language** | 5,579 | 1.55% | 9,535 | 2.21% |
| Other | 1,349 | 0.37% | 2,289 | 0.53% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 359,855 | 100.00% | 431,580 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 33,146 | 55.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,387 | 23.68% |
| Asian Language** | 4,365 | 45.78% |
| Other Language | 681 | 29.75% |
| Total | 41,579 | 9.63% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 13,095 | 52.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,437 | 25.98% |
| Asian Language** | 3,017 | 54.08% |
| Other Language | 432 | 32.02% |
| Total | 19,981 | 5.55% |
* "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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