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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 | 3,360,596 | 85.80% | 3,627,264 | 79.17% |
| Spanish | 208,685 | 5.33% | 406,244 | 8.87% |
| Other Indo-European* | 173,517 | 4.43% | 245,052 | 5.35% |
| Asian Language** | 130,533 | 3.33% | 213,057 | 4.65% |
| Other | 43,493 | 1.11% | 89,858 | 1.96% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,916,824 | 100.00% | 4,581,475 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 212,534 | 52.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 67,560 | 27.57% |
| Asian Language** | 104,300 | 48.95% |
| Other Language | 25,455 | 28.33% |
| Total | 409,849 | 8.95% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 104,355 | 50.01% |
| Other Indo-European* | 46,866 | 27.01% |
| Asian Language** | 66,225 | 50.73% |
| Other Language | 11,870 | 27.29% |
| Total | 229,316 | 5.85% |
* "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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