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 | 411,789 | 87.15% | 464,971 | 78.61% |
| Spanish | 30,759 | 6.51% | 76,049 | 12.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,643 | 4.58% | 32,238 | 5.45% |
| Asian Language** | 6,799 | 1.44% | 15,710 | 2.66% |
| Other | 1,518 | 0.32% | 2,551 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 472,508 | 100.00% | 591,519 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 42,631 | 56.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,467 | 29.37% |
| Asian Language** | 6,282 | 39.99% |
| Other Language | 586 | 22.97% |
| Total | 58,966 | 9.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,420 | 50.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,608 | 25.91% |
| Asian Language** | 2,583 | 37.99% |
| Other Language | 373 | 24.57% |
| Total | 23,984 | 5.08% |
* "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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