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 | 896,049 | 64.46% | 1,072,947 | 63.49% |
| Spanish | 388,186 | 27.93% | 485,681 | 28.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,012 | 1.22% | 22,032 | 1.30% |
| Asian Language** | 7,950 | 0.57% | 11,517 | 0.68% |
| Other | 80,851 | 5.82% | 97,734 | 5.78% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,390,048 | 100.00% | 1,689,911 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 158,629 | 32.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,121 | 23.24% |
| Asian Language** | 5,034 | 43.71% |
| Other Language | 32,271 | 33.02% |
| Total | 201,055 | 11.90% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 119,705 | 30.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,854 | 22.65% |
| Asian Language** | 3,753 | 47.21% |
| Other Language | 32,308 | 39.96% |
| Total | 159,620 | 11.48% |
* "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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