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 | 889,637 | 75.16% | 850,906 | 63.19% |
| Spanish | 106,032 | 8.96% | 192,512 | 14.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 57,790 | 4.88% | 85,324 | 6.34% |
| Asian Language** | 121,683 | 10.28% | 204,944 | 15.22% |
| Other | 8,574 | 0.72% | 12,980 | 0.96% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 1,183,716 | 100.00% | 1,346,666 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 102,395 | 53.19% |
| Other Indo-European* | 26,301 | 30.82% |
| Asian Language** | 105,584 | 51.52% |
| Other Language | 3,584 | 27.61% |
| Total | 237,864 | 17.66% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 47,485 | 44.78% |
| Other Indo-European* | 18,539 | 32.08% |
| Asian Language** | 65,464 | 53.80% |
| Other Language | 3,171 | 36.98% |
| Total | 134,659 | 11.38% |
* "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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