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 | 1,726,619 | 74.92% | 1,752,737 | 66.96% |
| Spanish | 370,386 | 16.07% | 573,649 | 21.91% |
| Other Indo-European* | 65,110 | 2.83% | 80,143 | 3.06% |
| Asian Language** | 128,830 | 5.59% | 185,810 | 7.10% |
| Other | 13,703 | 0.59% | 25,379 | 0.97% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,304,648 | 100.00% | 2,617,718 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 273,578 | 47.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,991 | 27.44% |
| Asian Language** | 86,320 | 46.46% |
| Other Language | 9,741 | 38.38% |
| Total | 391,630 | 14.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 179,422 | 48.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,492 | 26.87% |
| Asian Language** | 62,274 | 48.34% |
| Other Language | 5,085 | 37.11% |
| Total | 264,273 | 11.47% |
* "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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