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 | 267,925 | 94.71% | 317,650 | 94.07% |
| Spanish | 4,325 | 1.53% | 7,267 | 2.15% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,193 | 3.25% | 9,781 | 2.90% |
| Asian Language** | 1,131 | 0.40% | 2,474 | 0.73% |
| Other | 321 | 0.11% | 492 | 0.15% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 282,895 | 100.00% | 337,664 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,957 | 40.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,421 | 24.75% |
| Asian Language** | 917 | 37.07% |
| Other Language | 118 | 23.98% |
| Total | 6,413 | 1.90% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,492 | 34.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,197 | 23.90% |
| Asian Language** | 430 | 38.02% |
| Other Language | 91 | 28.35% |
| Total | 4,210 | 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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