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 | 9,996,969 | 82.65% | 11,569,739 | 76.91% |
| Spanish | 1,447,747 | 11.97% | 2,476,528 | 16.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 515,779 | 4.26% | 755,214 | 5.02% |
| Asian Language** | 85,994 | 0.71% | 164,516 | 1.09% |
| Other | 48,795 | 0.40% | 77,606 | 0.52% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 12,095,284 | 100.00% | 15,043,603 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,187,335 | 47.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 268,263 | 35.52% |
| Asian Language** | 75,990 | 46.19% |
| Other Language | 23,277 | 29.99% |
| Total | 1,554,865 | 10.34% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 729,078 | 50.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 175,974 | 34.12% |
| Asian Language** | 40,465 | 47.06% |
| Other Language | 15,786 | 32.35% |
| Total | 961,303 | 7.95% |
* "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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