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 | 379,291 | 92.46% | 417,425 | 89.35% |
| Spanish | 11,071 | 2.70% | 24,481 | 5.24% |
| Other Indo-European* | 14,757 | 3.60% | 15,437 | 3.30% |
| Asian Language** | 3,861 | 0.94% | 7,413 | 1.59% |
| Other | 1,236 | 0.30% | 2,447 | 0.52% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 410,216 | 100.00% | 467,203 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,057 | 49.25% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,938 | 25.51% |
| Asian Language** | 3,219 | 43.42% |
| Other Language | 581 | 23.74% |
| Total | 19,795 | 4.24% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,097 | 37.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,084 | 27.68% |
| Asian Language** | 1,728 | 44.76% |
| Other Language | 330 | 26.70% |
| Total | 10,239 | 2.50% |
* "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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