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 | 189,218 | 97.19% | 216,725 | 96.01% |
| Spanish | 1,866 | 0.96% | 4,291 | 1.90% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,411 | 1.24% | 2,885 | 1.28% |
| Asian Language** | 1,024 | 0.53% | 1,485 | 0.66% |
| Other | 173 | 0.09% | 353 | 0.16% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 194,692 | 100.00% | 225,739 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,452 | 33.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 582 | 20.17% |
| Asian Language** | 717 | 48.28% |
| Other Language | 101 | 28.61% |
| Total | 2,852 | 1.26% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 497 | 26.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 715 | 29.66% |
| Asian Language** | 493 | 48.14% |
| Other Language | 33 | 19.08% |
| Total | 1,738 | 0.89% |
* "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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