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 | 1,091,650 | 87.50% | 1,257,050 | 80.01% |
| Spanish | 112,129 | 8.99% | 238,242 | 15.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,031 | 1.53% | 28,805 | 1.83% |
| Asian Language** | 20,393 | 1.63% | 38,075 | 2.42% |
| Other | 4,362 | 0.35% | 8,945 | 0.57% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,247,565 | 100.00% | 1,571,117 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 117,396 | 49.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,500 | 29.51% |
| Asian Language** | 21,025 | 55.22% |
| Other Language | 2,614 | 29.22% |
| Total | 149,535 | 9.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 47,684 | 42.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,405 | 23.15% |
| Asian Language** | 11,223 | 55.03% |
| Other Language | 1,479 | 33.91% |
| Total | 64,791 | 5.19% |
* "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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