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 | 176,459 | 32.75% | 165,907 | 26.70% |
| Spanish | 349,052 | 64.77% | 442,233 | 71.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,212 | 1.52% | 7,347 | 1.18% |
| Asian Language** | 3,920 | 0.73% | 4,645 | 0.75% |
| Other | 1,237 | 0.23% | 1,156 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 538,880 | 100.00% | 621,288 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 198,851 | 44.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,867 | 25.41% |
| Asian Language** | 2,209 | 47.56% |
| Other Language | 348 | 30.10% |
| Total | 203,275 | 32.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 165,046 | 47.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,074 | 25.26% |
| Asian Language** | 1,744 | 44.49% |
| Other Language | 349 | 28.21% |
| Total | 169,213 | 31.40% |
* "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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