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 | 4,570,494 | 96.25% | 4,961,741 | 94.94% |
| Spanish | 59,585 | 1.25% | 110,752 | 2.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 85,406 | 1.80% | 97,816 | 1.87% |
| Asian Language** | 26,394 | 0.56% | 41,970 | 0.80% |
| Other | 6,825 | 0.14% | 13,743 | 0.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,748,704 | 100.00% | 5,226,022 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 45,990 | 41.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 31,383 | 32.08% |
| Asian Language** | 21,210 | 50.54% |
| Other Language | 4,436 | 32.28% |
| Total | 103,019 | 1.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 20,962 | 35.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27,154 | 31.79% |
| Asian Language** | 12,852 | 48.69% |
| Other Language | 1,970 | 28.86% |
| Total | 62,938 | 1.33% |
* "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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