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 | 141,887 | 94.91% | 141,013 | 92.88% |
| Spanish | 1,998 | 1.34% | 4,547 | 2.99% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,436 | 2.97% | 4,215 | 2.78% |
| Asian Language** | 778 | 0.52% | 1,224 | 0.81% |
| Other | 403 | 0.27% | 826 | 0.54% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 149,502 | 100.00% | 151,825 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,907 | 41.94% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,195 | 28.35% |
| Asian Language** | 497 | 40.60% |
| Other Language | 177 | 21.43% |
| Total | 3,776 | 2.49% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 750 | 37.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,409 | 31.76% |
| Asian Language** | 245 | 31.49% |
| Other Language | 76 | 18.86% |
| Total | 2,480 | 1.66% |
* "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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