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 | 762,426 | 95.47% | 744,914 | 94.42% |
| Spanish | 9,002 | 1.13% | 13,426 | 1.70% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,976 | 2.50% | 19,212 | 2.44% |
| Asian Language** | 5,066 | 0.63% | 8,001 | 1.01% |
| Other | 2,148 | 0.27% | 3,415 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 798,618 | 100.00% | 788,968 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,020 | 37.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,840 | 30.40% |
| Asian Language** | 3,745 | 46.81% |
| Other Language | 737 | 21.58% |
| Total | 15,342 | 1.94% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,134 | 34.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,526 | 27.66% |
| Asian Language** | 2,394 | 47.26% |
| Other Language | 566 | 26.35% |
| Total | 11,620 | 1.46% |
* "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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