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 | 188,377 | 93.90% | 199,368 | 93.32% |
| Spanish | 1,565 | 0.78% | 4,036 | 1.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,429 | 4.20% | 7,883 | 3.69% |
| Asian Language** | 752 | 0.37% | 1,178 | 0.55% |
| Other | 1,498 | 0.75% | 1,181 | 0.55% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 200,621 | 100.00% | 213,646 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,071 | 51.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,462 | 31.23% |
| Asian Language** | 481 | 40.83% |
| Other Language | 249 | 21.08% |
| Total | 5,263 | 2.46% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 392 | 25.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,678 | 31.77% |
| Asian Language** | 305 | 40.56% |
| Other Language | 405 | 27.04% |
| Total | 3,780 | 1.88% |
* "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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