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 | 225,830 | 90.28% | 336,049 | 84.47% |
| Spanish | 14,388 | 5.75% | 40,100 | 10.08% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,348 | 1.74% | 9,987 | 2.51% |
| Asian Language** | 4,760 | 1.90% | 10,194 | 2.56% |
| Other | 826 | 0.33% | 1,523 | 0.38% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 250,152 | 100.00% | 397,853 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 18,247 | 45.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,283 | 22.86% |
| Asian Language** | 5,117 | 50.20% |
| Other Language | 403 | 26.46% |
| Total | 26,050 | 6.55% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,391 | 37.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 812 | 18.68% |
| Asian Language** | 2,323 | 48.80% |
| Other Language | 151 | 18.28% |
| Total | 8,677 | 3.47% |
* "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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