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 | 2,064,597 | 84.13% | 2,385,486 | 73.74% |
| Spanish | 292,511 | 11.92% | 655,910 | 20.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 42,944 | 1.75% | 76,967 | 2.38% |
| Asian Language** | 44,642 | 1.82% | 92,303 | 2.85% |
| Other | 9,325 | 0.38% | 24,255 | 0.75% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,454,019 | 100.00% | 3,234,921 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 369,018 | 56.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 21,187 | 27.53% |
| Asian Language** | 46,029 | 49.87% |
| Other Language | 6,846 | 28.23% |
| Total | 443,080 | 13.70% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 141,025 | 48.21% |
| Other Indo-European* | 11,181 | 26.04% |
| Asian Language** | 24,060 | 53.90% |
| Other Language | 2,598 | 27.86% |
| Total | 178,864 | 7.29% |
* "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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