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 | 581,907 | 92.06% | 635,062 | 90.38% |
| Spanish | 8,012 | 1.27% | 14,182 | 2.02% |
| Other Indo-European* | 29,488 | 4.67% | 30,107 | 4.28% |
| Asian Language** | 9,994 | 1.58% | 19,373 | 2.76% |
| Other | 2,670 | 0.42% | 3,938 | 0.56% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 632,071 | 100.00% | 702,662 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,227 | 36.86% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,992 | 26.55% |
| Asian Language** | 9,832 | 50.75% |
| Other Language | 835 | 21.20% |
| Total | 23,886 | 3.40% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,429 | 30.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,799 | 29.84% |
| Asian Language** | 5,197 | 52.00% |
| Other Language | 744 | 27.87% |
| Total | 17,169 | 2.72% |
* "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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