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 | 240,047 | 89.68% | 288,646 | 84.41% |
| Spanish | 16,324 | 6.10% | 35,438 | 10.36% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,673 | 2.87% | 11,018 | 3.22% |
| Asian Language** | 2,429 | 0.91% | 4,820 | 1.41% |
| Other | 1,209 | 0.45% | 2,027 | 0.59% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 267,682 | 100.00% | 341,949 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,355 | 34.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,847 | 25.84% |
| Asian Language** | 1,999 | 41.47% |
| Other Language | 427 | 21.07% |
| Total | 17,628 | 5.16% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,210 | 38.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,013 | 26.23% |
| Asian Language** | 1,034 | 42.57% |
| Other Language | 347 | 28.70% |
| Total | 9,604 | 3.59% |
* "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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