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 | 609,341 | 81.96% | 654,278 | 74.03% |
| Spanish | 55,291 | 7.44% | 115,740 | 13.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 30,267 | 4.07% | 42,090 | 4.76% |
| Asian Language** | 45,079 | 6.06% | 65,950 | 7.46% |
| Other | 3,522 | 0.47% | 5,704 | 0.65% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 743,500 | 100.00% | 883,762 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 58,661 | 50.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 12,407 | 29.48% |
| Asian Language** | 28,793 | 43.66% |
| Other Language | 1,334 | 23.39% |
| Total | 101,195 | 11.45% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 24,507 | 44.32% |
| Other Indo-European* | 8,172 | 27.00% |
| Asian Language** | 20,782 | 46.10% |
| Other Language | 918 | 26.06% |
| Total | 54,379 | 7.31% |
* "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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