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 | 103,331 | 94.11% | 116,753 | 93.72% |
| Spanish | 686 | 0.62% | 2,241 | 1.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,440 | 4.95% | 3,959 | 3.18% |
| Asian Language** | 301 | 0.27% | 1,352 | 1.09% |
| Other | 40 | 0.04% | 266 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 109,798 | 100.00% | 124,571 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 938 | 41.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 853 | 21.55% |
| Asian Language** | 765 | 56.58% |
| Other Language | 82 | 30.83% |
| Total | 2,638 | 2.12% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 180 | 26.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,526 | 28.05% |
| Asian Language** | 105 | 34.88% |
| Other Language | 12 | 30.00% |
| Total | 1,823 | 1.66% |
* "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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