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 | 95,722 | 93.08% | 107,192 | 92.12% |
| Spanish | 747 | 0.73% | 2,136 | 1.84% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,200 | 5.06% | 5,208 | 4.48% |
| Asian Language** | 996 | 0.97% | 1,476 | 1.27% |
| Other | 174 | 0.17% | 343 | 0.29% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 102,839 | 100.00% | 116,355 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 560 | 26.22% |
| Other Indo-European* | 946 | 18.16% |
| Asian Language** | 722 | 48.92% |
| Other Language | 64 | 18.66% |
| Total | 2,292 | 1.97% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 218 | 29.18% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,212 | 23.31% |
| Asian Language** | 425 | 42.67% |
| Other Language | 63 | 36.21% |
| Total | 1,918 | 1.87% |
* "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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