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 | 174,083 | 86.56% | 192,779 | 82.81% |
| Spanish | 20,289 | 10.09% | 31,465 | 13.52% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,566 | 2.27% | 4,345 | 1.87% |
| Asian Language** | 1,919 | 0.95% | 3,695 | 1.59% |
| Other | 244 | 0.12% | 520 | 0.22% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 201,101 | 100.00% | 232,804 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 13,712 | 43.58% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,147 | 26.40% |
| Asian Language** | 1,703 | 46.09% |
| Other Language | 127 | 24.42% |
| Total | 16,689 | 7.17% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,619 | 37.55% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,232 | 26.98% |
| Asian Language** | 916 | 47.73% |
| Other Language | 15 | 6.15% |
| Total | 9,782 | 4.86% |
* "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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