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 | 282,354 | 89.89% | 306,373 | 87.33% |
| Spanish | 13,275 | 4.23% | 28,387 | 8.09% |
| Other Indo-European* | 17,056 | 5.43% | 13,117 | 3.74% |
| Asian Language** | 1,142 | 0.36% | 2,437 | 0.69% |
| Other | 298 | 0.09% | 501 | 0.14% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 314,125 | 100.00% | 350,815 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 12,729 | 44.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 3,495 | 26.64% |
| Asian Language** | 1,300 | 53.34% |
| Other Language | 142 | 28.34% |
| Total | 17,666 | 5.04% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 6,810 | 51.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,999 | 29.31% |
| Asian Language** | 530 | 46.41% |
| Other Language | 83 | 27.85% |
| Total | 12,422 | 3.95% |
* "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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