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 | 205,929 | 87.26% | 253,447 | 80.10% |
| Spanish | 15,991 | 6.78% | 42,895 | 13.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 6,293 | 2.67% | 7,910 | 2.50% |
| Asian Language** | 6,725 | 2.85% | 10,668 | 3.37% |
| Other | 1,052 | 0.45% | 1,482 | 0.47% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 235,990 | 100.00% | 316,402 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 22,793 | 53.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,153 | 27.22% |
| Asian Language** | 4,724 | 44.28% |
| Other Language | 350 | 23.62% |
| Total | 30,020 | 9.49% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 8,161 | 51.03% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,417 | 22.52% |
| Asian Language** | 2,999 | 44.59% |
| Other Language | 327 | 31.08% |
| Total | 12,904 | 5.47% |
* "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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