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 | 371,089 | 94.29% | 511,976 | 87.82% |
| Spanish | 6,664 | 1.69% | 33,840 | 5.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,447 | 2.15% | 18,517 | 3.18% |
| Asian Language** | 5,251 | 1.33% | 12,521 | 2.15% |
| Other | 2,108 | 0.54% | 6,124 | 1.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 393,559 | 100.00% | 582,978 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 20,542 | 60.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,531 | 24.47% |
| Asian Language** | 5,697 | 45.50% |
| Other Language | 1,697 | 27.71% |
| Total | 32,467 | 5.57% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,177 | 32.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,132 | 25.24% |
| Asian Language** | 2,778 | 52.90% |
| Other Language | 574 | 27.23% |
| Total | 7,661 | 1.95% |
* "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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