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 | 516,499 | 93.22% | 541,657 | 88.39% |
| Spanish | 18,339 | 3.31% | 44,062 | 7.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,763 | 1.40% | 8,970 | 1.46% |
| Asian Language** | 8,549 | 1.54% | 14,379 | 2.35% |
| Other | 2,940 | 0.53% | 3,728 | 0.61% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 554,090 | 100.00% | 612,796 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 22,461 | 50.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,399 | 26.74% |
| Asian Language** | 8,408 | 58.47% |
| Other Language | 910 | 24.41% |
| Total | 34,178 | 5.58% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,102 | 44.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,126 | 27.39% |
| Asian Language** | 5,085 | 59.48% |
| Other Language | 679 | 23.10% |
| Total | 15,992 | 2.89% |
* "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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