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 | 252,484 | 74.97% | 278,370 | 67.59% |
| Spanish | 54,010 | 16.04% | 97,137 | 23.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,414 | 4.28% | 17,166 | 4.17% |
| Asian Language** | 10,947 | 3.25% | 11,478 | 2.79% |
| Other | 4,933 | 1.46% | 7,682 | 1.87% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 336,788 | 100.00% | 411,833 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 48,468 | 49.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,582 | 38.34% |
| Asian Language** | 6,006 | 52.33% |
| Other Language | 3,262 | 42.46% |
| Total | 64,318 | 15.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 26,563 | 49.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,867 | 33.77% |
| Asian Language** | 7,473 | 68.27% |
| Other Language | 2,082 | 42.21% |
| Total | 40,985 | 12.17% |
* "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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