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 | 398,227 | 93.38% | 494,203 | 87.79% |
| Spanish | 5,900 | 1.38% | 19,053 | 3.38% |
| Other Indo-European* | 10,540 | 2.47% | 20,031 | 3.56% |
| Asian Language** | 10,524 | 2.47% | 26,603 | 4.73% |
| Other | 1,255 | 0.29% | 3,034 | 0.54% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 426,446 | 100.00% | 562,924 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 7,934 | 41.64% |
| Other Indo-European* | 7,473 | 37.31% |
| Asian Language** | 12,946 | 48.66% |
| Other Language | 996 | 32.83% |
| Total | 29,349 | 5.21% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,698 | 28.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,920 | 27.70% |
| Asian Language** | 5,058 | 48.06% |
| Other Language | 488 | 38.88% |
| Total | 10,164 | 2.38% |
* "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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