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LANGUAGE
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 | 458,137 | 94.08% | 521,136 | 93.18% |
| Spanish | 6,482 | 1.33% | 12,305 | 2.20% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,830 | 3.66% | 16,731 | 2.99% |
| Asian Language** | 3,471 | 0.71% | 6,612 | 1.18% |
| Other | 1,041 | 0.21% | 2,504 | 0.45% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 486,961 | 100.00% | 559,288 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 4,826 | 39.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,865 | 23.10% |
| Asian Language** | 3,458 | 52.30% |
| Other Language | 693 | 27.68% |
| Total | 12,842 | 2.30% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,240 | 34.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,195 | 29.14% |
| Asian Language** | 1,903 | 54.83% |
| Other Language | 295 | 28.34% |
| Total | 9,633 | 1.98% |
* "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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