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 | 3,625,639 | 76.70% | 3,453,547 | 69.19% |
| Spanish | 560,298 | 11.85% | 879,996 | 17.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 385,243 | 8.15% | 439,325 | 8.80% |
| Asian Language** | 115,453 | 2.44% | 158,034 | 3.17% |
| Other | 40,197 | 0.85% | 60,408 | 1.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,726,830 | 100.00% | 4,991,310 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 471,410 | 53.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 195,391 | 44.48% |
| Asian Language** | 75,913 | 48.04% |
| Other Language | 19,712 | 32.63% |
| Total | 762,426 | 15.28% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 293,748 | 52.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 149,081 | 38.70% |
| Asian Language** | 58,252 | 50.46% |
| Other Language | 13,410 | 33.36% |
| Total | 514,491 | 10.88% |
* "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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