This language is not passing down to children. People who are above 60 may be able to speak it, whereas people between 40-60 only have passive knowledge about Nanai. Nanai is used only in the home domains between active speakers, and is not the major language for communication even among them.

Due to the socio-economic pressure, the Nanai don't feel the need to pass down their language. No monolingual Nanai speakers. Intermarriage with other linguistic groups is not uncommon.

Nanai is not written down in China. The Nanai used to have rich oral literature. But because the medium for education and mass media is Mandarin, children have exposure only to Mandarin. The Nanai hence fail to pass down their oral tradition.

"The linguistic situation does not augur well for the future of Nanai culture. Nowadays, all the Nanais are bilingual. In 1979, 93.2% spoke Russian fluently, and 43.9% even gave Russian as their mother tongue. Only 63% spoke fluent Nanai and it was regarded as the mother tongue by 55.8%. From 1959 to 1979, the number of Nanais who regarded Russian as their mother tongue increased from 13.3% to 43.9%. Research projects in recent years have shown that it is mostly the older generation (as their first language) and the middle-aged (as their second language) who speak fluent Nanai. The younger generation has only a passive command of the language, or they do not speak it at all."

degree of speakers' competence: rapidly deteriorating, with Russian being used as the principal idiom of communication within the ethnic group

There is a written standard (in Cyrillic script) used for native language teaching at schools, but the language of instruction is Russian.