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 | 199,929 | 90.15% | 204,093 | 86.77% |
| Spanish | 8,825 | 3.98% | 19,723 | 8.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,653 | 3.90% | 5,628 | 2.39% |
| Asian Language** | 4,104 | 1.85% | 5,297 | 2.25% |
| Other | 257 | 0.12% | 466 | 0.20% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 221,768 | 100.00% | 235,207 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,322 | 47.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,520 | 27.01% |
| Asian Language** | 2,817 | 53.18% |
| Other Language | 148 | 31.76% |
| Total | 13,807 | 5.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,555 | 40.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,459 | 28.42% |
| Asian Language** | 2,381 | 58.02% |
| Other Language | 44 | 17.12% |
| Total | 8,439 | 3.81% |
* "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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