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 | 213,716 | 88.17% | 261,523 | 78.36% |
| Spanish | 19,498 | 8.04% | 55,788 | 16.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,718 | 1.95% | 6,598 | 1.98% |
| Asian Language** | 4,057 | 1.67% | 8,957 | 2.68% |
| Other | 390 | 0.16% | 868 | 0.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 242,379 | 100.00% | 333,734 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 29,221 | 52.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,009 | 30.45% |
| Asian Language** | 5,113 | 57.08% |
| Other Language | 228 | 26.27% |
| Total | 36,571 | 10.96% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,090 | 31.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,335 | 28.30% |
| Asian Language** | 2,621 | 64.60% |
| Other Language | 87 | 22.31% |
| Total | 10,133 | 4.18% |
* "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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