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 | 199,842 | 93.93% | 222,858 | 93.55% |
| Spanish | 3,359 | 1.58% | 5,324 | 2.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,682 | 3.61% | 7,188 | 3.02% |
| Asian Language** | 1,404 | 0.66% | 2,382 | 1.00% |
| Other | 461 | 0.22% | 480 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 212,748 | 100.00% | 238,232 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,797 | 33.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,042 | 28.41% |
| Asian Language** | 932 | 39.13% |
| Other Language | 152 | 31.67% |
| Total | 4,923 | 2.07% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,150 | 34.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,293 | 29.85% |
| Asian Language** | 620 | 44.16% |
| Other Language | 124 | 26.90% |
| Total | 4,187 | 1.97% |
* "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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