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 | 196,086 | 94.67% | 208,262 | 93.30% |
| Spanish | 3,121 | 1.51% | 6,262 | 2.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,442 | 2.63% | 5,157 | 2.31% |
| Asian Language** | 1,689 | 0.82% | 2,580 | 1.16% |
| Other | 780 | 0.38% | 967 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 207,118 | 100.00% | 223,228 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,187 | 34.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,372 | 26.60% |
| Asian Language** | 1,155 | 44.77% |
| Other Language | 229 | 23.68% |
| Total | 4,943 | 2.21% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,291 | 41.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,542 | 28.34% |
| Asian Language** | 850 | 50.33% |
| Other Language | 225 | 28.85% |
| Total | 3,908 | 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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