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 | 766,840 | 42.63% | 676,347 | 32.08% |
| Spanish | 901,270 | 50.11% | 1,248,616 | 59.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 110,127 | 6.12% | 155,369 | 7.37% |
| Asian Language** | 11,784 | 0.66% | 16,395 | 0.78% |
| Other | 8,740 | 0.49% | 11,785 | 0.56% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,798,761 | 100.00% | 2,108,512 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 658,721 | 52.76% |
| Other Indo-European* | 62,059 | 39.94% |
| Asian Language** | 7,789 | 47.51% |
| Other Language | 3,245 | 27.54% |
| Total | 731,814 | 34.71% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 506,008 | 56.14% |
| Other Indo-European* | 48,159 | 43.73% |
| Asian Language** | 5,833 | 49.50% |
| Other Language | 2,948 | 33.73% |
| Total | 562,948 | 31.30% |
* "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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