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 | 51,907 | 21.91% | 63,824 | 21.02% |
| Spanish | 183,801 | 77.58% | 237,660 | 78.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 797 | 0.34% | 961 | 0.32% |
| Asian Language** | 383 | 0.16% | 971 | 0.32% |
| Other | 35 | 0.01% | 280 | 0.09% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 236,923 | 100.00% | 303,696 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 107,210 | 45.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 201 | 20.92% |
| Asian Language** | 309 | 31.82% |
| Other Language | 127 | 45.36% |
| Total | 107,847 | 35.51% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 94,237 | 51.27% |
| Other Indo-European* | 282 | 35.38% |
| Asian Language** | 177 | 46.21% |
| Other Language | 14 | 40.00% |
| Total | 94,710 | 39.98% |
* "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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