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 | 1,338,075 | 89.43% | 1,619,471 | 82.68% |
| Spanish | 93,556 | 6.25% | 230,101 | 11.75% |
| Other Indo-European* | 36,931 | 2.47% | 54,361 | 2.78% |
| Asian Language** | 22,428 | 1.50% | 43,557 | 2.22% |
| Other | 5,180 | 0.35% | 11,248 | 0.57% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,496,170 | 100.00% | 1,958,738 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 121,535 | 52.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,119 | 31.49% |
| Asian Language** | 23,023 | 52.86% |
| Other Language | 3,664 | 32.57% |
| Total | 165,341 | 8.44% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 32,863 | 35.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10,210 | 27.65% |
| Asian Language** | 13,124 | 58.52% |
| Other Language | 1,433 | 27.66% |
| Total | 57,630 | 3.85% |
* "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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