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 | 204,737 | 96.77% | 221,858 | 93.69% |
| Spanish | 2,321 | 1.10% | 8,001 | 3.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,479 | 1.64% | 3,651 | 1.54% |
| Asian Language** | 829 | 0.39% | 3,016 | 1.27% |
| Other | 201 | 0.10% | 285 | 0.12% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 211,567 | 100.00% | 236,811 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,998 | 49.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,215 | 33.28% |
| Asian Language** | 1,657 | 54.94% |
| Other Language | 110 | 38.60% |
| Total | 6,980 | 2.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 893 | 38.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,189 | 34.18% |
| Asian Language** | 456 | 55.01% |
| Other Language | 71 | 35.32% |
| Total | 2,609 | 1.23% |
* "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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