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 | 2,674,519 | 79.25% | 3,523,487 | 74.14% |
| Spanish | 478,234 | 14.17% | 927,395 | 19.51% |
| Other Indo-European* | 71,425 | 2.12% | 102,004 | 2.15% |
| Asian Language** | 31,243 | 0.93% | 62,204 | 1.31% |
| Other | 119,385 | 3.54% | 137,634 | 2.90% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 3,374,806 | 100.00% | 4,752,724 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 435,186 | 46.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26,527 | 26.01% |
| Asian Language** | 28,280 | 45.46% |
| Other Language | 49,944 | 36.29% |
| Total | 539,937 | 11.36% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 187,314 | 39.17% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,775 | 24.89% |
| Asian Language** | 15,472 | 49.52% |
| Other Language | 55,346 | 46.36% |
| Total | 275,907 | 8.18% |
* "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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