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 | 492,167 | 90.77% | 515,735 | 83.37% |
| Spanish | 12,397 | 2.29% | 38,767 | 6.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,514 | 3.05% | 29,348 | 4.74% |
| Asian Language** | 18,519 | 3.42% | 30,310 | 4.90% |
| Other | 2,627 | 0.48% | 4,457 | 0.72% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 542,224 | 100.00% | 618,617 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 21,686 | 55.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,345 | 45.47% |
| Asian Language** | 18,275 | 60.29% |
| Other Language | 1,699 | 38.12% |
| Total | 55,005 | 8.89% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,084 | 41.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,315 | 38.24% |
| Asian Language** | 10,517 | 56.79% |
| Other Language | 908 | 34.56% |
| Total | 22,824 | 4.21% |
* "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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