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 | 364,404 | 90.07% | 426,432 | 89.06% |
| Spanish | 10,144 | 2.51% | 20,058 | 4.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 25,628 | 6.33% | 25,029 | 5.23% |
| Asian Language** | 1,923 | 0.48% | 4,063 | 0.85% |
| Other | 2,476 | 0.61% | 3,244 | 0.68% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 404,575 | 100.00% | 478,826 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,882 | 44.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,193 | 28.74% |
| Asian Language** | 1,453 | 35.76% |
| Other Language | 690 | 21.27% |
| Total | 18,218 | 3.80% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,266 | 32.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,859 | 30.67% |
| Asian Language** | 918 | 47.74% |
| Other Language | 725 | 29.28% |
| Total | 12,768 | 3.16% |
* "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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