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 | 89,776 | 93.09% | 96,241 | 91.32% |
| Spanish | 1,158 | 1.20% | 3,192 | 3.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,006 | 4.15% | 2,665 | 2.53% |
| Asian Language** | 1,410 | 1.46% | 3,174 | 3.01% |
| Other | 85 | 0.09% | 112 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 96,435 | 100.00% | 105,384 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,353 | 42.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 660 | 24.77% |
| Asian Language** | 1,985 | 62.54% |
| Other Language | 26 | 23.21% |
| Total | 4,024 | 3.82% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 471 | 40.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 996 | 24.86% |
| Asian Language** | 1,072 | 76.03% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 2,539 | 2.63% |
* "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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