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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 | 4,496,926 | 85.02% | 4,628,775 | 81.61% |
| Spanish | 192,439 | 3.64% | 317,108 | 5.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 479,102 | 9.06% | 513,130 | 9.05% |
| Asian Language** | 93,655 | 1.77% | 168,828 | 2.98% |
| Other | 26,892 | 0.51% | 43,661 | 0.77% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 5,289,014 | 100.00% | 5,671,502 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 141,305 | 44.56% |
| Other Indo-European* | 184,515 | 35.96% |
| Asian Language** | 88,889 | 52.65% |
| Other Language | 11,958 | 27.39% |
| Total | 426,667 | 7.52% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 93,685 | 48.68% |
| Other Indo-European* | 166,151 | 34.68% |
| Asian Language** | 54,466 | 58.16% |
| Other Language | 7,334 | 27.27% |
| Total | 321,636 | 6.08% |
* "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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