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 | 154,678 | 75.90% | 227,070 | 69.30% |
| Spanish | 33,427 | 16.40% | 57,612 | 17.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,156 | 3.02% | 16,603 | 5.07% |
| Asian Language** | 8,637 | 4.24% | 22,409 | 6.84% |
| Other | 891 | 0.44% | 3,972 | 1.21% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 203,789 | 100.00% | 327,666 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 23,062 | 40.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,125 | 24.84% |
| Asian Language** | 9,118 | 40.69% |
| Other Language | 760 | 19.13% |
| Total | 37,065 | 11.31% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,946 | 38.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,491 | 24.22% |
| Asian Language** | 3,769 | 43.64% |
| Other Language | 141 | 15.82% |
| Total | 18,347 | 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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