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 | 274,483 | 95.23% | 318,558 | 94.17% |
| Spanish | 4,003 | 1.39% | 8,347 | 2.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,123 | 1.78% | 4,913 | 1.45% |
| Asian Language** | 4,390 | 1.52% | 5,977 | 1.77% |
| Other | 246 | 0.09% | 497 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 288,245 | 100.00% | 338,292 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,880 | 34.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,161 | 23.63% |
| Asian Language** | 2,904 | 48.59% |
| Other Language | 139 | 27.97% |
| Total | 7,084 | 2.09% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,447 | 36.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,553 | 30.31% |
| Asian Language** | 2,227 | 50.73% |
| Other Language | 52 | 21.14% |
| Total | 5,279 | 1.83% |
* "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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