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 | 109,328 | 85.79% | 189,447 | 82.78% |
| Spanish | 13,474 | 10.57% | 29,188 | 12.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,543 | 2.78% | 5,352 | 2.34% |
| Asian Language** | 972 | 0.76% | 3,881 | 1.70% |
| Other | 122 | 0.10% | 983 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 127,439 | 100.00% | 228,851 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,362 | 35.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,010 | 18.87% |
| Asian Language** | 1,784 | 45.97% |
| Other Language | 156 | 15.87% |
| Total | 13,312 | 5.82% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,897 | 36.34% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,022 | 28.85% |
| Asian Language** | 456 | 46.91% |
| Other Language | 21 | 17.21% |
| Total | 6,396 | 5.02% |
* "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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