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 | 185,065 | 90.27% | 207,818 | 86.37% |
| Spanish | 5,371 | 2.62% | 9,580 | 3.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,538 | 2.21% | 6,424 | 2.67% |
| Asian Language** | 7,381 | 3.60% | 12,872 | 5.35% |
| Other | 2,653 | 1.29% | 3,933 | 1.63% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 205,008 | 100.00% | 240,627 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,837 | 40.05% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,482 | 23.07% |
| Asian Language** | 6,627 | 51.48% |
| Other Language | 764 | 19.43% |
| Total | 12,710 | 5.28% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,731 | 32.23% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,136 | 25.03% |
| Asian Language** | 3,942 | 53.41% |
| Other Language | 786 | 29.63% |
| Total | 7,595 | 3.70% |
* "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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