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 | 5,699,642 | 95.25% | 6,843,038 | 90.11% |
| Spanish | 122,295 | 2.04% | 426,115 | 5.61% |
| Other Indo-European* | 97,509 | 1.63% | 168,629 | 2.22% |
| Asian Language** | 51,255 | 0.86% | 116,456 | 1.53% |
| Other | 13,487 | 0.23% | 40,238 | 0.53% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,984,188 | 100.00% | 7,594,476 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 246,269 | 57.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 52,754 | 31.28% |
| Asian Language** | 63,320 | 54.37% |
| Other Language | 11,908 | 29.59% |
| Total | 374,251 | 4.93% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 50,054 | 40.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26,991 | 27.68% |
| Asian Language** | 28,750 | 56.09% |
| Other Language | 3,255 | 24.13% |
| Total | 109,050 | 1.82% |
* "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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