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 | 335,046 | 91.29% | 355,616 | 89.66% |
| Spanish | 10,824 | 2.95% | 15,483 | 3.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,270 | 4.16% | 16,691 | 4.21% |
| Asian Language** | 4,607 | 1.26% | 6,921 | 1.74% |
| Other | 1,251 | 0.34% | 1,918 | 0.48% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 366,998 | 100.00% | 396,629 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,066 | 32.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,144 | 30.82% |
| Asian Language** | 3,505 | 50.64% |
| Other Language | 443 | 23.10% |
| Total | 14,158 | 3.57% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,623 | 33.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,374 | 28.64% |
| Asian Language** | 1,967 | 42.70% |
| Other Language | 297 | 23.74% |
| Total | 10,261 | 2.80% |
* "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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