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 | 90,000 | 80.85% | 94,316 | 73.31% |
| Spanish | 11,176 | 10.04% | 20,238 | 15.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,869 | 5.27% | 9,112 | 7.08% |
| Asian Language** | 3,998 | 3.59% | 4,739 | 3.68% |
| Other | 278 | 0.25% | 255 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 111,321 | 100.00% | 128,660 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,366 | 56.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,047 | 44.41% |
| Asian Language** | 2,496 | 52.67% |
| Other Language | 93 | 36.47% |
| Total | 18,002 | 13.99% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,648 | 50.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,715 | 46.26% |
| Asian Language** | 2,498 | 62.48% |
| Other Language | 92 | 33.09% |
| Total | 10,953 | 9.84% |
* "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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