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 | 161,315 | 78.42% | 175,195 | 77.68% |
| Spanish | 40,372 | 19.63% | 45,812 | 20.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,954 | 0.95% | 2,302 | 1.02% |
| Asian Language** | 1,548 | 0.75% | 1,852 | 0.82% |
| Other | 509 | 0.25% | 365 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 205,698 | 100.00% | 225,526 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 13,380 | 29.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 514 | 22.33% |
| Asian Language** | 942 | 50.86% |
| Other Language | 63 | 17.26% |
| Total | 14,899 | 6.61% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 15,167 | 37.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 470 | 24.05% |
| Asian Language** | 826 | 53.36% |
| Other Language | 105 | 20.63% |
| Total | 16,568 | 8.05% |
* "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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