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 | 269,620 | 87.27% | 310,121 | 87.33% |
| Spanish | 4,137 | 1.34% | 9,712 | 2.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 32,086 | 10.39% | 29,121 | 8.20% |
| Asian Language** | 2,018 | 0.65% | 4,580 | 1.29% |
| Other | 1,090 | 0.35% | 1,594 | 0.45% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 308,951 | 100.00% | 355,128 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,259 | 43.85% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,856 | 26.98% |
| Asian Language** | 2,265 | 49.45% |
| Other Language | 484 | 30.36% |
| Total | 14,864 | 4.19% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,854 | 44.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,746 | 27.26% |
| Asian Language** | 936 | 46.38% |
| Other Language | 274 | 25.14% |
| Total | 11,810 | 3.82% |
* "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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