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 | 623,236 | 79.81% | 859,214 | 74.23% |
| Spanish | 126,640 | 16.22% | 236,914 | 20.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,188 | 2.20% | 27,243 | 2.35% |
| Asian Language** | 11,398 | 1.46% | 29,182 | 2.52% |
| Other | 2,409 | 0.31% | 4,941 | 0.43% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 780,871 | 100.00% | 1,157,494 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 101,608 | 42.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,962 | 21.88% |
| Asian Language** | 13,074 | 44.80% |
| Other Language | 1,205 | 24.39% |
| Total | 121,849 | 10.53% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 47,361 | 37.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,976 | 23.13% |
| Asian Language** | 6,021 | 52.83% |
| Other Language | 513 | 21.30% |
| Total | 57,871 | 7.41% |
* "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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