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 | 2,722,355 | 89.46% | 3,402,266 | 84.92% |
| Spanish | 203,896 | 6.70% | 421,670 | 10.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 71,439 | 2.35% | 100,148 | 2.50% |
| Asian Language** | 35,167 | 1.16% | 63,745 | 1.59% |
| Other | 10,129 | 0.33% | 18,456 | 0.46% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,042,986 | 100.00% | 4,006,285 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 202,883 | 48.11% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26,943 | 26.90% |
| Asian Language** | 32,138 | 50.42% |
| Other Language | 5,540 | 30.02% |
| Total | 267,504 | 6.68% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 69,100 | 33.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,262 | 25.56% |
| Asian Language** | 19,377 | 55.10% |
| Other Language | 3,150 | 31.10% |
| Total | 109,889 | 3.61% |
* "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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