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 | 183,512 | 95.36% | 224,032 | 92.25% |
| Spanish | 2,443 | 1.27% | 7,725 | 3.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,501 | 1.82% | 5,827 | 2.40% |
| Asian Language** | 2,490 | 1.29% | 4,384 | 1.81% |
| Other | 500 | 0.26% | 898 | 0.37% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 192,446 | 100.00% | 242,866 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,284 | 42.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,360 | 23.34% |
| Asian Language** | 2,238 | 51.05% |
| Other Language | 282 | 31.40% |
| Total | 7,164 | 2.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 641 | 26.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 929 | 26.54% |
| Asian Language** | 1,240 | 49.80% |
| Other Language | 55 | 11.00% |
| Total | 2,865 | 1.49% |
* "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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