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 | 219,403 | 93.25% | 290,564 | 88.54% |
| Spanish | 7,884 | 3.35% | 24,457 | 7.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,386 | 1.86% | 7,638 | 2.33% |
| Asian Language** | 2,864 | 1.22% | 4,795 | 1.46% |
| Other | 741 | 0.31% | 736 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 235,278 | 100.00% | 328,190 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,403 | 42.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,356 | 17.75% |
| Asian Language** | 1,777 | 37.06% |
| Other Language | 194 | 26.36% |
| Total | 13,730 | 4.18% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,317 | 29.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 889 | 20.27% |
| Asian Language** | 905 | 31.60% |
| Other Language | 162 | 21.86% |
| Total | 4,273 | 1.82% |
* "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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