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LANGUAGE
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 | 491,986 | 91.44% | 574,433 | 88.23% |
| Spanish | 10,351 | 1.92% | 24,602 | 3.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 15,736 | 2.92% | 19,065 | 2.93% |
| Asian Language** | 18,809 | 3.50% | 31,447 | 4.83% |
| Other | 1,169 | 0.22% | 1,534 | 0.24% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 538,051 | 100.00% | 651,081 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 9,664 | 39.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,468 | 28.68% |
| Asian Language** | 16,012 | 50.92% |
| Other Language | 379 | 24.71% |
| Total | 31,523 | 4.84% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,218 | 31.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,530 | 22.43% |
| Asian Language** | 10,165 | 54.04% |
| Other Language | 244 | 20.87% |
| Total | 17,157 | 3.19% |
* "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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