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 | 109,013 | 93.20% | 118,308 | 91.35% |
| Spanish | 1,256 | 1.07% | 2,317 | 1.79% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,908 | 3.34% | 4,767 | 3.68% |
| Asian Language** | 2,469 | 2.11% | 3,635 | 2.81% |
| Other | 317 | 0.27% | 479 | 0.37% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 116,963 | 100.00% | 129,506 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 590 | 25.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,664 | 34.91% |
| Asian Language** | 1,759 | 48.39% |
| Other Language | 163 | 34.03% |
| Total | 4,176 | 3.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 439 | 34.95% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,035 | 26.48% |
| Asian Language** | 1,019 | 41.27% |
| Other Language | 75 | 23.66% |
| Total | 2,568 | 2.20% |
* "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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