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 | 8,024,930 | 93.37% | 8,487,401 | 91.57% |
| Spanish | 137,490 | 1.60% | 246,688 | 2.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 298,146 | 3.47% | 303,122 | 3.27% |
| Asian Language** | 59,426 | 0.69% | 104,467 | 1.13% |
| Other | 74,745 | 0.87% | 127,104 | 1.37% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 8,594,737 | 100.00% | 9,268,782 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 100,689 | 40.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 96,900 | 31.97% |
| Asian Language** | 48,454 | 46.38% |
| Other Language | 48,563 | 38.21% |
| Total | 294,606 | 3.18% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 46,144 | 33.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 88,934 | 29.83% |
| Asian Language** | 28,229 | 47.50% |
| Other Language | 25,355 | 33.92% |
| Total | 188,662 | 2.20% |
* "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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