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 | 1,249,241 | 89.02% | 1,332,933 | 81.65% |
| Spanish | 25,932 | 1.85% | 69,351 | 4.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 44,527 | 3.17% | 75,204 | 4.61% |
| Asian Language** | 77,377 | 5.51% | 137,921 | 8.45% |
| Other | 6,229 | 0.44% | 17,144 | 1.05% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,403,306 | 100.00% | 1,632,553 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 32,382 | 46.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26,460 | 35.18% |
| Asian Language** | 72,219 | 52.36% |
| Other Language | 6,610 | 38.56% |
| Total | 137,671 | 8.43% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,157 | 31.46% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,075 | 27.12% |
| Asian Language** | 42,568 | 55.01% |
| Other Language | 2,096 | 33.65% |
| Total | 64,896 | 4.62% |
* "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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