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 | 124,987 | 91.70% | 124,226 | 90.56% |
| Spanish | 6,283 | 4.61% | 8,059 | 5.88% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,518 | 1.85% | 2,326 | 1.70% |
| Asian Language** | 2,325 | 1.71% | 2,294 | 1.67% |
| Other | 183 | 0.13% | 265 | 0.19% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 136,296 | 100.00% | 137,170 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,436 | 30.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 419 | 18.01% |
| Asian Language** | 776 | 33.83% |
| Other Language | 37 | 13.96% |
| Total | 3,668 | 2.67% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,630 | 25.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 620 | 24.62% |
| Asian Language** | 930 | 40.00% |
| Other Language | 30 | 16.39% |
| Total | 3,210 | 2.36% |
* "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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