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 | 702,242 | 95.65% | 738,672 | 92.70% |
| Spanish | 11,708 | 1.59% | 32,216 | 4.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,553 | 1.98% | 15,355 | 1.93% |
| Asian Language** | 4,276 | 0.58% | 7,240 | 0.91% |
| Other | 1,407 | 0.19% | 3,375 | 0.42% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 734,186 | 100.00% | 796,858 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 17,057 | 52.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,944 | 32.20% |
| Asian Language** | 3,713 | 51.28% |
| Other Language | 1,023 | 30.31% |
| Total | 26,737 | 3.36% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,058 | 34.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,292 | 29.49% |
| Asian Language** | 1,815 | 42.45% |
| Other Language | 435 | 30.92% |
| Total | 10,600 | 1.44% |
* "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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