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 | 883,348 | 96.58% | 1,066,655 | 93.01% |
| Spanish | 10,243 | 1.12% | 40,911 | 3.57% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,733 | 1.39% | 20,041 | 1.75% |
| Asian Language** | 6,487 | 0.71% | 13,128 | 1.14% |
| Other | 1,787 | 0.20% | 6,069 | 0.53% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 914,598 | 100.00% | 1,146,804 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 21,025 | 51.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,270 | 31.29% |
| Asian Language** | 6,906 | 52.61% |
| Other Language | 2,490 | 41.03% |
| Total | 36,691 | 3.20% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,434 | 33.53% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,834 | 30.11% |
| Asian Language** | 3,545 | 54.65% |
| Other Language | 455 | 25.46% |
| Total | 11,268 | 1.23% |
* "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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