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 | 191,644 | 91.41% | 236,441 | 86.38% |
| Spanish | 8,454 | 4.03% | 21,404 | 7.82% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,578 | 2.66% | 8,891 | 3.25% |
| Asian Language** | 3,184 | 1.52% | 5,785 | 2.11% |
| Other | 790 | 0.38% | 1,198 | 0.44% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 209,650 | 100.00% | 273,719 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 11,011 | 51.44% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,983 | 22.30% |
| Asian Language** | 2,637 | 45.58% |
| Other Language | 318 | 26.54% |
| Total | 15,949 | 5.83% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,392 | 40.12% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,244 | 22.30% |
| Asian Language** | 1,671 | 52.48% |
| Other Language | 246 | 31.14% |
| Total | 6,553 | 3.13% |
* "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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