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 | 210,479 | 94.95% | 243,863 | 94.52% |
| Spanish | 3,032 | 1.37% | 5,277 | 2.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,175 | 2.33% | 4,868 | 1.89% |
| Asian Language** | 2,296 | 1.04% | 3,045 | 1.18% |
| Other | 694 | 0.31% | 939 | 0.36% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 221,676 | 100.00% | 257,992 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,114 | 40.06% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,141 | 23.44% |
| Asian Language** | 1,530 | 50.25% |
| Other Language | 252 | 26.84% |
| Total | 5,037 | 1.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 952 | 31.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,329 | 25.68% |
| Asian Language** | 1,225 | 53.35% |
| Other Language | 81 | 11.67% |
| Total | 3,587 | 1.62% |
* "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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