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 | 287,504 | 95.10% | 315,689 | 91.13% |
| Spanish | 4,801 | 1.59% | 13,536 | 3.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,730 | 1.90% | 8,721 | 2.52% |
| Asian Language** | 3,877 | 1.28% | 7,140 | 2.06% |
| Other | 412 | 0.14% | 1,335 | 0.39% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 302,324 | 100.00% | 346,421 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,855 | 50.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,784 | 43.39% |
| Asian Language** | 3,900 | 54.62% |
| Other Language | 761 | 57.00% |
| Total | 15,300 | 4.42% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,654 | 34.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,680 | 29.32% |
| Asian Language** | 2,292 | 59.12% |
| Other Language | 75 | 18.20% |
| Total | 5,701 | 1.89% |
* "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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