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 | 889,390 | 91.86% | 1,041,517 | 85.87% |
| Spanish | 33,677 | 3.48% | 100,747 | 8.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 25,111 | 2.59% | 35,672 | 2.94% |
| Asian Language** | 16,571 | 1.71% | 28,979 | 2.39% |
| Other | 3,469 | 0.36% | 6,016 | 0.50% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 968,218 | 100.00% | 1,212,931 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 49,528 | 49.16% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10,495 | 29.42% |
| Asian Language** | 12,843 | 44.32% |
| Other Language | 1,818 | 30.22% |
| Total | 74,684 | 6.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,191 | 33.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,004 | 27.89% |
| Asian Language** | 7,987 | 48.20% |
| Other Language | 993 | 28.62% |
| Total | 27,175 | 2.81% |
* "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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