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 | 227,062 | 95.52% | 256,586 | 94.01% |
| Spanish | 4,150 | 1.75% | 7,402 | 2.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,332 | 1.82% | 4,753 | 1.74% |
| Asian Language** | 1,734 | 0.73% | 3,368 | 1.23% |
| Other | 424 | 0.18% | 823 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 237,702 | 100.00% | 272,932 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,940 | 39.72% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,339 | 28.17% |
| Asian Language** | 1,986 | 58.97% |
| Other Language | 148 | 17.98% |
| Total | 6,413 | 2.35% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,364 | 32.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,202 | 27.75% |
| Asian Language** | 829 | 47.81% |
| Other Language | 72 | 16.98% |
| Total | 3,467 | 1.46% |
* "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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