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 | 421,758 | 79.22% | 537,622 | 71.32% |
| Spanish | 86,558 | 16.26% | 168,283 | 22.33% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,747 | 2.21% | 19,724 | 2.62% |
| Asian Language** | 10,123 | 1.90% | 24,443 | 3.24% |
| Other | 2,172 | 0.41% | 3,714 | 0.49% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 532,358 | 100.00% | 753,786 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 77,954 | 46.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,534 | 22.99% |
| Asian Language** | 10,881 | 44.52% |
| Other Language | 981 | 26.41% |
| Total | 94,350 | 12.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 31,534 | 36.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,563 | 21.82% |
| Asian Language** | 5,412 | 53.46% |
| Other Language | 453 | 20.86% |
| Total | 39,962 | 7.51% |
* "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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