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 | 599,190 | 89.63% | 645,489 | 87.56% |
| Spanish | 3,733 | 0.56% | 8,719 | 1.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 54,756 | 8.19% | 56,136 | 7.62% |
| Asian Language** | 4,983 | 0.75% | 9,972 | 1.35% |
| Other | 5,861 | 0.88% | 16,858 | 2.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 668,523 | 100.00% | 737,174 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,312 | 37.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 20,752 | 36.97% |
| Asian Language** | 4,727 | 47.40% |
| Other Language | 7,143 | 42.37% |
| Total | 35,934 | 4.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,083 | 29.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,918 | 32.72% |
| Asian Language** | 1,979 | 39.72% |
| Other Language | 1,996 | 34.06% |
| Total | 22,976 | 3.44% |
* "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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