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 | 270,178 | 91.67% | 258,470 | 91.36% |
| Spanish | 5,500 | 1.87% | 6,698 | 2.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,835 | 5.71% | 15,132 | 5.35% |
| Asian Language** | 1,381 | 0.47% | 2,003 | 0.71% |
| Other | 850 | 0.29% | 625 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 294,744 | 100.00% | 282,928 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,385 | 35.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,107 | 40.36% |
| Asian Language** | 1,287 | 64.25% |
| Other Language | 183 | 29.28% |
| Total | 9,962 | 3.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,118 | 38.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,778 | 28.38% |
| Asian Language** | 759 | 54.96% |
| Other Language | 171 | 20.12% |
| Total | 7,826 | 2.66% |
* "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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