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 | 3,494,359 | 89.91% | 3,771,003 | 90.79% |
| Spanish | 72,173 | 1.86% | 105,189 | 2.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 285,827 | 7.35% | 225,750 | 5.44% |
| Asian Language** | 29,017 | 0.75% | 41,963 | 1.01% |
| Other | 4,977 | 0.13% | 9,462 | 0.23% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,886,353 | 100.00% | 4,153,367 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 38,609 | 36.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53,948 | 23.90% |
| Asian Language** | 21,755 | 51.84% |
| Other Language | 2,595 | 27.43% |
| Total | 116,907 | 2.81% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 27,942 | 38.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 83,384 | 29.17% |
| Asian Language** | 15,473 | 53.32% |
| Other Language | 1,506 | 30.26% |
| Total | 128,305 | 3.30% |
* "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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