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 | 9,086,726 | 85.84% | 9,326,786 | 80.77% |
| Spanish | 728,380 | 6.88% | 1,253,676 | 10.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 552,968 | 5.22% | 640,237 | 5.54% |
| Asian Language** | 166,773 | 1.58% | 248,800 | 2.15% |
| Other | 50,991 | 0.48% | 78,006 | 0.68% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 10,585,838 | 100.00% | 11,547,505 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 665,995 | 53.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 253,352 | 39.57% |
| Asian Language** | 111,065 | 44.64% |
| Other Language | 24,310 | 31.16% |
| Total | 1,054,722 | 9.13% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 366,999 | 50.39% |
| Other Indo-European* | 194,218 | 35.12% |
| Asian Language** | 80,425 | 48.22% |
| Other Language | 16,341 | 32.05% |
| Total | 657,983 | 6.22% |
* "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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