In Hulun Buir (esp. in the Imin basin) the language is still being retained well, while among most groups in Heilongjiang it has ceased to be transmitted to children.

generally fluent within those communities still retaining the language; knowledge of other languages is, however, universal; in spite of the lack of a written standard, the speakers of Dagur have a tradition of learning and scholarship (earlier in Manchu, today in Chinese and Written Mongolian)

many attempts have been made to write Dagur in various systems (Manchu, Mongolian, Roman, Cyrillic), and a project of a new literary language is currently being planned.