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 | 36,010 | 76.10% | 44,111 | 80.46% |
| Spanish | 594 | 1.26% | 620 | 1.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 594 | 1.26% | 562 | 1.03% |
| Asian Language** | 10,117 | 21.38% | 9,486 | 17.30% |
| Other | 4 | 0.01% | 43 | 0.08% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 47,319 | 100.00% | 54,822 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 170 | 27.42% |
| Other Indo-European* | 86 | 15.30% |
| Asian Language** | 4,522 | 47.67% |
| Other Language | 9 | 20.93% |
| Total | 4,787 | 8.73% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 130 | 21.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 158 | 26.60% |
| Asian Language** | 5,469 | 54.06% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 5,757 | 12.17% |
* "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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