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 | 346,345 | 94.88% | 296,924 | 91.43% |
| Spanish | 5,637 | 1.54% | 7,851 | 2.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,596 | 2.63% | 12,400 | 3.82% |
| Asian Language** | 2,751 | 0.75% | 5,354 | 1.65% |
| Other | 700 | 0.19% | 2,240 | 0.69% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 365,029 | 100.00% | 324,769 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,283 | 41.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,438 | 51.92% |
| Asian Language** | 3,478 | 64.96% |
| Other Language | 992 | 44.29% |
| Total | 14,191 | 4.37% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,110 | 37.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,575 | 37.26% |
| Asian Language** | 1,679 | 61.03% |
| Other Language | 265 | 37.86% |
| Total | 7,629 | 2.09% |
* "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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