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LANGUAGE
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 | 490,695 | 78.25% | 467,470 | 66.65% |
| Spanish | 47,765 | 7.62% | 85,403 | 12.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 56,856 | 9.07% | 85,050 | 12.13% |
| Asian Language** | 20,901 | 3.33% | 48,288 | 6.88% |
| Other | 10,879 | 1.73% | 15,198 | 2.17% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 627,096 | 100.00% | 701,409 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 42,256 | 49.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29,260 | 34.40% |
| Asian Language** | 18,184 | 37.66% |
| Other Language | 4,488 | 29.53% |
| Total | 94,188 | 13.43% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 22,943 | 48.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,008 | 33.43% |
| Asian Language** | 9,223 | 44.13% |
| Other Language | 3,254 | 29.91% |
| Total | 54,428 | 8.68% |
* "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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