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 | 626,826 | 57.69% | 729,268 | 56.81% |
| Spanish | 432,578 | 39.82% | 517,887 | 40.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,352 | 1.51% | 18,515 | 1.44% |
| Asian Language** | 9,440 | 0.87% | 14,861 | 1.16% |
| Other | 1,264 | 0.12% | 3,083 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,086,460 | 100.00% | 1,283,614 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 177,858 | 34.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,944 | 21.30% |
| Asian Language** | 6,564 | 44.17% |
| Other Language | 930 | 30.17% |
| Total | 189,296 | 14.75% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 174,596 | 40.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,623 | 22.16% |
| Asian Language** | 4,435 | 46.98% |
| Other Language | 376 | 29.75% |
| Total | 183,030 | 16.85% |
* "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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