"In 1989, 500 speakers were reported from the Soviet Union, including 100 in
the Crimea, but the figures seem meaningless, as only people born in the 1930s or earlier appear to retain fluency in Krimchak; they number perhaps 200, and even they use Krimchak rarely" (Salminen, 2007)

"Not long ago the Krymchaks used to speak a variant of Crimean Tatar which had some of the distinctive features of the Steppe dialect and has sometimes been referred to as its Krymchak ethnolect. The Crimean Tatar language was the universal means of communication in the Crimea from the 15th to the 19th centuries... Today the majority of Krymchaks speak Russian. Crimean Tatar is used only by those over 70. In most instances the younger generation lacks even a passive knowledge of Crimean Tatar. Intermarriages are the norm. The mass transition of the young to the Russian language occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time the older Krymchak women were monolingual" (The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire)