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 | 1,027,904 | 56.07% | 968,415 | 46.36% |
| Spanish | 330,098 | 18.01% | 485,046 | 23.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 289,791 | 15.81% | 361,658 | 17.31% |
| Asian Language** | 158,164 | 8.63% | 237,391 | 11.36% |
| Other | 27,358 | 1.49% | 36,360 | 1.74% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,833,315 | 100.00% | 2,088,870 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 260,340 | 53.67% |
| Other Indo-European* | 160,525 | 44.39% |
| Asian Language** | 146,781 | 61.83% |
| Other Language | 12,722 | 34.99% |
| Total | 580,368 | 27.78% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 173,643 | 52.60% |
| Other Indo-European* | 121,979 | 42.09% |
| Asian Language** | 98,675 | 62.39% |
| Other Language | 10,372 | 37.91% |
| Total | 404,669 | 22.07% |
* "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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