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 | 319,729 | 95.52% | 364,642 | 93.41% |
| Spanish | 3,777 | 1.13% | 7,930 | 2.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,687 | 2.00% | 11,523 | 2.95% |
| Asian Language** | 3,682 | 1.10% | 5,431 | 1.39% |
| Other | 848 | 0.25% | 840 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 334,723 | 100.00% | 390,366 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,284 | 28.80% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,042 | 43.76% |
| Asian Language** | 2,714 | 49.97% |
| Other Language | 344 | 40.95% |
| Total | 10,384 | 2.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,021 | 27.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,594 | 23.84% |
| Asian Language** | 2,118 | 57.52% |
| Other Language | 228 | 26.89% |
| Total | 4,961 | 1.48% |
* "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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