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 | 188,890 | 89.27% | 211,454 | 80.46% |
| Spanish | 13,509 | 6.38% | 38,841 | 14.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,006 | 2.84% | 7,518 | 2.86% |
| Asian Language** | 2,746 | 1.30% | 4,203 | 1.60% |
| Other | 439 | 0.21% | 778 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 211,590 | 100.00% | 262,794 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 23,315 | 60.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,178 | 42.27% |
| Asian Language** | 2,303 | 54.79% |
| Other Language | 301 | 38.69% |
| Total | 29,097 | 11.07% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,513 | 48.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,265 | 37.71% |
| Asian Language** | 1,497 | 54.52% |
| Other Language | 152 | 34.62% |
| Total | 10,427 | 4.93% |
* "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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