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LANGUAGE
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 | 465,110 | 74.78% | 431,448 | 66.20% |
| Spanish | 59,774 | 9.61% | 94,480 | 14.50% |
| Other Indo-European* | 64,842 | 10.42% | 77,980 | 11.97% |
| Asian Language** | 26,572 | 4.27% | 38,176 | 5.86% |
| Other | 5,713 | 0.92% | 9,624 | 1.48% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 622,011 | 100.00% | 651,708 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 46,229 | 48.93% |
| Other Indo-European* | 34,227 | 43.89% |
| Asian Language** | 24,239 | 63.49% |
| Other Language | 3,616 | 37.57% |
| Total | 108,311 | 16.62% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 32,358 | 54.13% |
| Other Indo-European* | 27,711 | 42.74% |
| Asian Language** | 17,629 | 66.34% |
| Other Language | 1,627 | 28.48% |
| Total | 79,325 | 12.75% |
* "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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