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 | 332,370 | 92.20% | 384,272 | 84.49% |
| Spanish | 10,361 | 2.87% | 37,645 | 8.28% |
| Other Indo-European* | 9,159 | 2.54% | 15,706 | 3.45% |
| Asian Language** | 7,097 | 1.97% | 13,469 | 2.96% |
| Other | 1,506 | 0.42% | 3,725 | 0.82% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 360,493 | 100.00% | 454,817 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 19,737 | 52.43% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,425 | 34.54% |
| Asian Language** | 6,712 | 49.83% |
| Other Language | 1,280 | 34.36% |
| Total | 33,154 | 7.29% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 3,487 | 33.66% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2,168 | 23.67% |
| Asian Language** | 4,021 | 56.66% |
| Other Language | 311 | 20.65% |
| Total | 9,987 | 2.77% |
* "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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