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 | 600,077 | 93.03% | 641,282 | 90.38% |
| Spanish | 9,139 | 1.42% | 16,694 | 2.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 24,665 | 3.82% | 30,877 | 4.35% |
| Asian Language** | 8,543 | 1.32% | 14,304 | 2.02% |
| Other | 2,621 | 0.41% | 6,352 | 0.90% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 645,045 | 100.00% | 709,509 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,991 | 35.89% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10,768 | 34.87% |
| Asian Language** | 7,362 | 51.47% |
| Other Language | 1,405 | 22.12% |
| Total | 25,526 | 3.60% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,224 | 35.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,714 | 31.28% |
| Asian Language** | 4,542 | 53.17% |
| Other Language | 678 | 25.87% |
| Total | 16,158 | 2.50% |
* "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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