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 | 741,412 | 92.37% | 755,171 | 91.76% |
| Spanish | 12,864 | 1.60% | 20,151 | 2.45% |
| Other Indo-European* | 40,149 | 5.00% | 35,327 | 4.29% |
| Asian Language** | 5,956 | 0.74% | 8,810 | 1.07% |
| Other | 2,278 | 0.28% | 3,556 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 802,659 | 100.00% | 823,015 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,379 | 31.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,975 | 28.24% |
| Asian Language** | 3,993 | 45.32% |
| Other Language | 1,200 | 33.75% |
| Total | 21,547 | 2.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,019 | 31.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,982 | 29.84% |
| Asian Language** | 2,617 | 43.94% |
| Other Language | 688 | 30.20% |
| Total | 19,306 | 2.41% |
* "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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