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 | 1,537,674 | 69.04% | 1,542,698 | 58.60% |
| Spanish | 421,287 | 18.92% | 665,069 | 25.26% |
| Other Indo-European* | 80,835 | 3.63% | 107,036 | 4.07% |
| Asian Language** | 173,380 | 7.78% | 296,284 | 11.26% |
| Other | 14,041 | 0.63% | 21,321 | 0.81% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 2,227,217 | 100.00% | 2,632,408 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 384,787 | 57.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30,041 | 28.07% |
| Asian Language** | 168,920 | 57.01% |
| Other Language | 6,419 | 30.11% |
| Total | 590,167 | 22.42% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 257,777 | 61.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 22,753 | 28.15% |
| Asian Language** | 100,430 | 57.92% |
| Other Language | 4,241 | 30.20% |
| Total | 385,201 | 17.30% |
* "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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