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 | 250,842 | 80.72% | 276,347 | 75.44% |
| Spanish | 25,312 | 8.14% | 44,187 | 12.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,665 | 2.79% | 10,404 | 2.84% |
| Asian Language** | 25,354 | 8.16% | 33,918 | 9.26% |
| Other | 596 | 0.19% | 1,446 | 0.39% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 310,769 | 100.00% | 366,302 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 20,721 | 46.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,740 | 26.34% |
| Asian Language** | 12,295 | 36.25% |
| Other Language | 398 | 27.52% |
| Total | 36,154 | 9.87% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 10,565 | 41.74% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,211 | 25.52% |
| Asian Language** | 9,353 | 36.89% |
| Other Language | 118 | 19.80% |
| Total | 22,247 | 7.16% |
* "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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