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 | 189,032 | 95.22% | 213,189 | 91.23% |
| Spanish | 2,687 | 1.35% | 7,679 | 3.29% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,395 | 2.21% | 6,048 | 2.59% |
| Asian Language** | 1,982 | 1.00% | 5,399 | 2.31% |
| Other | 433 | 0.22% | 1,370 | 0.59% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 198,529 | 100.00% | 233,685 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,043 | 39.63% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,322 | 38.39% |
| Asian Language** | 3,250 | 60.20% |
| Other Language | 702 | 51.24% |
| Total | 9,317 | 3.99% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 801 | 29.81% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,147 | 26.10% |
| Asian Language** | 1,223 | 61.71% |
| Other Language | 116 | 26.79% |
| Total | 3,287 | 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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