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 | 304,045 | 96.22% | 339,443 | 94.65% |
| Spanish | 4,634 | 1.47% | 10,498 | 2.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,939 | 1.88% | 6,134 | 1.71% |
| Asian Language** | 1,219 | 0.39% | 2,147 | 0.60% |
| Other | 148 | 0.05% | 393 | 0.11% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 315,985 | 100.00% | 358,615 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,460 | 42.48% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,776 | 28.95% |
| Asian Language** | 1,109 | 51.65% |
| Other Language | 113 | 28.75% |
| Total | 7,458 | 2.08% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,202 | 47.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,732 | 29.16% |
| Asian Language** | 609 | 49.96% |
| Other Language | 63 | 42.57% |
| Total | 4,606 | 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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