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 | 4,413,193 | 97.11% | 5,059,404 | 95.17% |
| Spanish | 49,661 | 1.09% | 133,931 | 2.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 54,408 | 1.20% | 68,879 | 1.30% |
| Asian Language** | 21,636 | 0.48% | 39,701 | 0.75% |
| Other | 5,845 | 0.13% | 14,005 | 0.26% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 4,544,743 | 100.00% | 5,315,920 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 64,378 | 48.07% |
| Other Indo-European* | 19,044 | 27.65% |
| Asian Language** | 20,071 | 50.56% |
| Other Language | 4,772 | 34.07% |
| Total | 108,265 | 2.04% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 17,372 | 34.98% |
| Other Indo-European* | 16,239 | 29.85% |
| Asian Language** | 10,487 | 48.47% |
| Other Language | 1,426 | 24.40% |
| Total | 45,524 | 1.00% |
* "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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