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 | 110,838 | 95.21% | 124,855 | 94.15% |
| Spanish | 1,973 | 1.69% | 3,486 | 2.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,864 | 1.60% | 1,942 | 1.46% |
| Asian Language** | 1,651 | 1.42% | 2,060 | 1.55% |
| Other | 84 | 0.07% | 272 | 0.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 116,410 | 100.00% | 132,615 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,332 | 38.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 440 | 22.66% |
| Asian Language** | 1,003 | 48.69% |
| Other Language | 169 | 62.13% |
| Total | 2,944 | 2.22% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 689 | 34.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 480 | 25.75% |
| Asian Language** | 643 | 38.95% |
| Other Language | 9 | 10.71% |
| Total | 1,821 | 1.56% |
* "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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