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 | 10,278,294 | 92.72% | 10,583,054 | 91.58% |
| Spanish | 213,096 | 1.92% | 356,754 | 3.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 477,747 | 4.31% | 428,122 | 3.70% |
| Asian Language** | 84,785 | 0.76% | 143,955 | 1.25% |
| Other | 31,248 | 0.28% | 43,653 | 0.38% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 11,085,170 | 100.00% | 11,555,538 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 140,502 | 39.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 138,542 | 32.36% |
| Asian Language** | 76,183 | 52.92% |
| Other Language | 13,030 | 29.85% |
| Total | 368,257 | 3.19% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 88,149 | 41.37% |
| Other Indo-European* | 150,490 | 31.50% |
| Asian Language** | 45,009 | 53.09% |
| Other Language | 9,361 | 29.96% |
| Total | 293,009 | 2.64% |
* "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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