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 | 345,839 | 93.66% | 372,640 | 89.24% |
| Spanish | 11,115 | 3.01% | 26,105 | 6.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,483 | 1.48% | 5,727 | 1.37% |
| Asian Language** | 5,923 | 1.60% | 11,120 | 2.66% |
| Other | 896 | 0.24% | 1,999 | 0.48% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 369,256 | 100.00% | 417,591 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,728 | 48.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,468 | 25.63% |
| Asian Language** | 6,510 | 58.54% |
| Other Language | 731 | 36.57% |
| Total | 21,437 | 5.13% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,366 | 39.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,573 | 28.69% |
| Asian Language** | 3,685 | 62.22% |
| Other Language | 257 | 28.68% |
| Total | 9,881 | 2.68% |
* "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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