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 | 1,377,509 | 81.14% | 1,375,049 | 67.46% |
| Spanish | 247,649 | 14.59% | 539,570 | 26.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30,430 | 1.79% | 46,167 | 2.26% |
| Asian Language** | 34,395 | 2.03% | 58,131 | 2.85% |
| Other | 7,718 | 0.45% | 19,408 | 0.95% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,697,701 | 100.00% | 2,038,325 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 316,065 | 58.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,115 | 30.57% |
| Asian Language** | 31,347 | 53.92% |
| Other Language | 5,716 | 29.45% |
| Total | 367,243 | 18.02% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 122,805 | 49.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,449 | 27.77% |
| Asian Language** | 19,174 | 55.75% |
| Other Language | 2,299 | 29.79% |
| Total | 152,727 | 9.00% |
* "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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