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 | 212,523 | 91.04% | 200,750 | 90.40% |
| Spanish | 5,001 | 2.14% | 5,983 | 2.69% |
| Other Indo-European* | 13,794 | 5.91% | 12,861 | 5.79% |
| Asian Language** | 1,332 | 0.57% | 1,862 | 0.84% |
| Other | 799 | 0.34% | 611 | 0.28% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 233,449 | 100.00% | 222,067 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,178 | 36.40% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,374 | 41.79% |
| Asian Language** | 1,237 | 66.43% |
| Other Language | 179 | 29.30% |
| Total | 8,968 | 4.04% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,968 | 39.35% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,056 | 29.40% |
| Asian Language** | 731 | 54.88% |
| Other Language | 164 | 20.53% |
| Total | 6,919 | 2.96% |
* "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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