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 | 121,405 | 92.92% | 119,754 | 93.59% |
| Spanish | 975 | 0.75% | 2,053 | 1.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,383 | 5.65% | 5,204 | 4.07% |
| Asian Language** | 578 | 0.44% | 675 | 0.53% |
| Other | 309 | 0.24% | 264 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 130,650 | 100.00% | 127,950 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 653 | 31.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,333 | 25.61% |
| Asian Language** | 229 | 33.93% |
| Other Language | 81 | 30.68% |
| Total | 2,296 | 1.79% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 326 | 33.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,082 | 28.20% |
| Asian Language** | 263 | 45.50% |
| Other Language | 81 | 26.21% |
| Total | 2,752 | 2.11% |
* "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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