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 | 629,205 | 95.90% | 694,239 | 93.08% |
| Spanish | 11,596 | 1.77% | 32,179 | 4.31% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,335 | 1.27% | 9,233 | 1.24% |
| Asian Language** | 4,037 | 0.62% | 6,155 | 0.83% |
| Other | 2,914 | 0.44% | 4,081 | 0.55% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 656,087 | 100.00% | 745,887 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 16,055 | 49.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,398 | 25.97% |
| Asian Language** | 3,201 | 52.01% |
| Other Language | 970 | 23.77% |
| Total | 22,624 | 3.03% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,353 | 37.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,082 | 24.98% |
| Asian Language** | 1,930 | 47.81% |
| Other Language | 638 | 21.89% |
| Total | 9,003 | 1.37% |
* "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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