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 | 5,327,898 | 92.72% | 5,884,075 | 88.89% |
| Spanish | 152,663 | 2.66% | 316,274 | 4.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 140,430 | 2.44% | 195,846 | 2.96% |
| Asian Language** | 103,431 | 1.80% | 170,136 | 2.57% |
| Other | 21,997 | 0.38% | 52,935 | 0.80% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,746,419 | 100.00% | 6,619,266 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 151,938 | 48.04% |
| Other Indo-European* | 53,125 | 27.13% |
| Asian Language** | 82,167 | 48.29% |
| Other Language | 16,499 | 31.17% |
| Total | 303,729 | 4.59% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 66,625 | 43.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 37,116 | 26.43% |
| Asian Language** | 51,189 | 49.49% |
| Other Language | 6,299 | 28.64% |
| Total | 161,229 | 2.81% |
* "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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