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 | 1,034,173 | 95.94% | 1,262,342 | 90.60% |
| Spanish | 16,540 | 1.53% | 78,698 | 5.65% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,500 | 1.72% | 26,986 | 1.94% |
| Asian Language** | 6,551 | 0.61% | 18,445 | 1.32% |
| Other | 2,143 | 0.20% | 6,887 | 0.49% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,077,907 | 100.00% | 1,393,358 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 47,984 | 60.97% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,976 | 29.56% |
| Asian Language** | 10,295 | 55.81% |
| Other Language | 2,145 | 31.15% |
| Total | 68,400 | 4.91% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,170 | 37.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,310 | 28.70% |
| Asian Language** | 3,675 | 56.10% |
| Other Language | 699 | 32.62% |
| Total | 15,854 | 1.47% |
* "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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