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 | 217,026 | 89.78% | 366,248 | 81.48% |
| Spanish | 14,056 | 5.81% | 40,117 | 8.92% |
| Other Indo-European* | 5,222 | 2.16% | 17,642 | 3.92% |
| Asian Language** | 4,758 | 1.97% | 22,532 | 5.01% |
| Other | 661 | 0.27% | 2,971 | 0.66% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 241,723 | 100.00% | 449,510 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 17,890 | 44.59% |
| Other Indo-European* | 4,139 | 23.46% |
| Asian Language** | 9,011 | 39.99% |
| Other Language | 638 | 21.47% |
| Total | 31,678 | 7.05% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 5,946 | 42.30% |
| Other Indo-European* | 1,146 | 21.95% |
| Asian Language** | 2,248 | 47.25% |
| Other Language | 120 | 18.15% |
| Total | 9,460 | 3.91% |
* "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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