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 | 599,146 | 77.12% | 560,343 | 67.56% |
| Spanish | 42,204 | 5.43% | 79,959 | 9.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 87,968 | 11.32% | 103,329 | 12.46% |
| Asian Language** | 38,512 | 4.96% | 70,421 | 8.49% |
| Other | 9,034 | 1.16% | 15,403 | 1.86% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 776,864 | 100.00% | 829,455 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 34,640 | 43.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 38,489 | 37.25% |
| Asian Language** | 36,902 | 52.40% |
| Other Language | 4,173 | 27.09% |
| Total | 114,204 | 13.77% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 17,691 | 41.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30,322 | 34.47% |
| Asian Language** | 22,316 | 57.95% |
| Other Language | 2,729 | 30.21% |
| Total | 73,058 | 9.40% |
* "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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