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 | 258,812 | 95.32% | 271,353 | 93.59% |
| Spanish | 5,212 | 1.92% | 9,112 | 3.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,567 | 2.05% | 6,611 | 2.28% |
| Asian Language** | 1,419 | 0.52% | 2,307 | 0.80% |
| Other | 511 | 0.19% | 543 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 271,521 | 100.00% | 289,926 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,097 | 44.96% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,510 | 22.84% |
| Asian Language** | 1,144 | 49.59% |
| Other Language | 82 | 15.10% |
| Total | 6,833 | 2.36% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,880 | 36.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,534 | 27.56% |
| Asian Language** | 621 | 43.76% |
| Other Language | 132 | 25.83% |
| Total | 4,167 | 1.53% |
* "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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