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 | 385,026 | 70.97% | 462,664 | 69.79% |
| Spanish | 127,159 | 23.44% | 161,390 | 24.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,333 | 1.72% | 10,361 | 1.56% |
| Asian Language** | 4,437 | 0.82% | 6,937 | 1.05% |
| Other | 16,545 | 3.05% | 21,553 | 3.25% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 542,500 | 100.00% | 662,905 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 49,762 | 30.83% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,167 | 20.91% |
| Asian Language** | 3,227 | 46.52% |
| Other Language | 6,493 | 30.13% |
| Total | 61,649 | 9.30% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 36,127 | 28.41% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,305 | 24.70% |
| Asian Language** | 2,219 | 50.01% |
| Other Language | 5,916 | 35.76% |
| Total | 46,567 | 8.58% |
* "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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