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 | 298,966 | 92.75% | 426,736 | 78.77% |
| Spanish | 7,996 | 2.48% | 56,827 | 10.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,530 | 2.34% | 26,829 | 4.95% |
| Asian Language** | 6,703 | 2.08% | 26,524 | 4.90% |
| Other | 1,141 | 0.35% | 4,835 | 0.89% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 322,336 | 100.00% | 541,751 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 34,450 | 60.62% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,831 | 36.64% |
| Asian Language** | 15,650 | 59.00% |
| Other Language | 1,117 | 23.10% |
| Total | 61,048 | 11.27% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,095 | 38.71% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,326 | 30.89% |
| Asian Language** | 3,993 | 59.57% |
| Other Language | 280 | 24.54% |
| Total | 9,694 | 3.01% |
* "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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