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 | 245,213 | 84.70% | 276,235 | 74.88% |
| Spanish | 33,157 | 11.45% | 77,546 | 21.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,897 | 2.73% | 10,015 | 2.71% |
| Asian Language** | 2,671 | 0.92% | 3,967 | 1.08% |
| Other | 559 | 0.19% | 1,120 | 0.30% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 289,497 | 100.00% | 368,883 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 48,461 | 62.49% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,799 | 27.95% |
| Asian Language** | 1,573 | 39.65% |
| Other Language | 376 | 33.57% |
| Total | 53,209 | 14.42% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 16,585 | 50.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,890 | 23.93% |
| Asian Language** | 1,609 | 60.24% |
| Other Language | 163 | 29.16% |
| Total | 20,247 | 6.99% |
* "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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