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 | 200,138 | 95.23% | 224,074 | 91.66% |
| Spanish | 3,299 | 1.57% | 9,778 | 4.00% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,573 | 1.70% | 5,313 | 2.17% |
| Asian Language** | 2,395 | 1.14% | 4,179 | 1.71% |
| Other | 758 | 0.36% | 1,111 | 0.45% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 210,163 | 100.00% | 244,455 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,319 | 54.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,446 | 27.22% |
| Asian Language** | 2,336 | 55.90% |
| Other Language | 258 | 23.22% |
| Total | 9,359 | 3.83% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,352 | 40.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 868 | 24.29% |
| Asian Language** | 1,401 | 58.50% |
| Other Language | 359 | 47.36% |
| Total | 3,980 | 1.89% |
* "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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