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 | 192,052 | 94.56% | 222,274 | 90.96% |
| Spanish | 2,758 | 1.36% | 6,884 | 2.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,833 | 2.38% | 7,740 | 3.17% |
| Asian Language** | 2,820 | 1.39% | 5,886 | 2.41% |
| Other | 634 | 0.31% | 1,575 | 0.64% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 203,097 | 100.00% | 244,359 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 2,791 | 40.54% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,536 | 32.76% |
| Asian Language** | 3,222 | 54.74% |
| Other Language | 534 | 33.90% |
| Total | 9,083 | 3.72% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 780 | 28.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,260 | 26.07% |
| Asian Language** | 1,627 | 57.70% |
| Other Language | 199 | 31.39% |
| Total | 3,866 | 1.90% |
* "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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