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 | 1,268,730 | 86.31% | 1,168,463 | 82.29% |
| Spanish | 77,508 | 5.27% | 110,498 | 7.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 84,853 | 5.77% | 79,181 | 5.58% |
| Asian Language** | 31,288 | 2.13% | 49,926 | 3.52% |
| Other | 7,520 | 0.51% | 11,909 | 0.84% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,469,899 | 100.00% | 1,419,977 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 45,884 | 41.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 33,447 | 42.24% |
| Asian Language** | 30,339 | 60.77% |
| Other Language | 4,002 | 33.60% |
| Total | 113,672 | 8.01% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 34,820 | 44.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 32,394 | 38.18% |
| Asian Language** | 18,728 | 59.86% |
| Other Language | 2,245 | 29.85% |
| Total | 88,187 | 6.00% |
* "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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