Language Questions Asia

Asia

Country:

Bhutan

Status: Yes
Year: 2017
Form: 2017 Population and Housing Census of Bhutan — metadata / person variables
Question: dm38, ee2–ee5

Using your usual language, do you have difficulty communicating? / Can the person read and write in Dzongkha, English, Lotsham, or another language?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
dm38	Difficulty communicating using usual language
ee2	Read and write in Dzongkha
ee3	Read and write in English
ee4	Read and write in Lotsham
ee5	Read and write in another language

Question type: 2 — language use/communication and literacy items

Notes: The supplied NSB metadata explicitly identifies the usual-language communication item and language-specific read/write items.

Source: Bhutan

Cambodia

Status: Yes
Year: 2019
Form: General Population Census of Cambodia — Form B, Part 2 Individual Particulars
Question: Columns 9, 15(a), 15(b)

What is the person's mother tongue? Can the person read and write Khmer? Can the person read and write in another language?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
Mother Tongue	Coded list; code list includes Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese, Lao, Thai, French, English, and other languages
15(a)	Yes / No — can read and write Khmer
15(b)	Yes / No; if Yes, identify the other language

Question type: 2 — mother-tongue plus language-literacy items

Notes: The questionnaire has a dedicated Mother Tongue column and separate Khmer/other-language literacy questions.

Source: Cambodia

Hong Kong

Status: Yes
Year: 2021
Form: 2021 Population Census — Long Form
Question: P19

What is the person's usual spoken language?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
01	Cantonese (including the Tan Ka dialect)
11	Putonghua (Mandarin)
12	Hakka
13	Chiu Chau
14	Fukien (including Taiwanese)
15	Sze Yap
16	Shanghainese
19	Other Chinese dialects
31	English
41	Bengali
42	Filipino (Tagalog)
43	Hindi
44	Indonesian
45	Japanese
46	Korean
47	Nepali
48	Urdu
49	Sinhalese
50	Thai
51	Vietnamese
52	Malay
59	Other Asian language
69	Other European language
89	Other language

Question type: 1 — coded usual-spoken-language classification

Notes: P19 is asked of Hong Kong residents aged 5 and over in the Long Form and is not applicable in the Short Form. It measures the language/dialect used in daily communication at home.

Source: 2021 Long Form (English) 2021 Short Form (English) 2021 Technical Report

Indonesia

Status: Yes
Year: 2020
Form: Population Census 2020 — SP2020-C2 Long Form
Question: P422–P424

Can the person speak Indonesian? What language did the person first master? Does the person use a regional language for everyday communication?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
P422	Yes / No — can speak Indonesian
P423	Bahasa Indonesia; Bahasa Daerah; Bahasa Asing; Bahasa Isyarat
P424	Yes — specify regional language / No

Question type: 2 — language ability, first-language, and regional-language-use questions

Notes: P423 explicitly asks which language the person first mastered; P424 asks about regional-language use within the family/community.

Source: 2020 Long Form

Kazakhstan

Status: Yes
Year: 2021
Form: National Population Census — Individual (Index 3-I)
Question: Q13–Q15

What languages do you know? Do you know the state language? What is your proficiency in the following languages?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
Q13	Up to 7 languages: Kazakh; Russian; Uzbek; Uyghur; Ukrainian; Tatar; German; Azerbaijani; Kyrgyz; Belarusian; Chechen; English; Chinese; Turkish; French; Korean; Arabic; Spanish; Japanese; Italian; Another
Q14	Know the state language: Yes / No; if Yes, use it in daily life: Yes / No
Q15	For Kazakh, Russian and English: understand spoken language; read fluently; speak fluently; write fluently; do not know

Question type: 3 — multiple-language knowledge plus state-language use and proficiency

Notes: Q13 allows no more than seven language responses.

Source: 2021 Individual Form

Kyrgyzstan

Status: Yes
Year: 2022
Form: Population and Housing Census — Form 2
Question: Q10.1–Q10.5

Mother tongue; speaking Kyrgyz and Russian; other languages spoken fluently; sign language

Responses:

Response / code	Option
Q10.1	Mother tongue: Kyrgyz; Kazakh; Russian; Tajik; Uzbek; Other
Q10.2	Kyrgyz: fluently; confidently; sufficiently; poorly; do not speak
Q10.3	Russian: fluently; confidently; sufficiently; poorly; do not speak
Q10.4	Other fluent languages: Uzbek; Kazakh; Tajik; Korean; Dungan; English; Chinese; German; Turkish; French; none; Other
Q10.5	Sign language: Yes / No

Question type: 3 — mother tongue plus language proficiency

Notes: Q10.4 asks for languages other than the person's mother tongue.

Source: 2022 Census Forms (English)

Nepal

Status: Yes
Year: 2021
Form: National Population and Housing Census — Main Questionnaire
Question: Individual Information

Mother tongue; ancestor's language; second language

Responses:

Response / code	Option
Mother tongue	Coded response
Ancestor's language	Coded response
Second language	Coded response

Question type: 3 — multiple individual language questions

Notes: The English documentation explicitly identifies mother tongue, ancestor's language, and second language as individual characteristics.

Source: Nepal 2021 questionnaire

Philippines

Status: Yes
Year: 2020
Form: 2020 Census of Population and Housing — CPH Form 2
Question: H13

What is the language/dialect generally spoken at home by the members of this household?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
H13	Specify language/dialect

Question type: 1 — household open-text language/dialect question

Notes: This is a household-level language question, not an individual mother-tongue item.

Source: Philippines 2020 common household questionnaire

South Korea (Republic of Korea)

Status: Yes
Year: 2025
Form: 2025 Population and Housing Census — Household Form
Question: Q7–Q8

What language do you usually use at home? How well do you speak Korean?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
Q7	Korean; English; Other
Q8	Very well; Well; Fair; Poorly; Very poorly
Single-person follow-up	Language typically used when reading books or watching videos at home: Korean; English; Other

Question type: 2 — home-language and Korean-proficiency questions

Notes: The 2025 form explicitly asks home language and Korean speaking proficiency. The supplied 2020 form does not provide a comparable general language-use question in the visible household pages.

Source: Republic of Korea 2025 combined questionnaire

Taiwan

Status: Yes
Year: 2020
Form: 2020 Population and Housing Census — questionnaire items / glossary
Question: Population item j; glossary item 15

Language usage

Responses:

Response / code	Option
Language earliest learned in childhood	Language earliest learned after birth
Language used primarily now	Language most often used to communicate with others at the census reference time
Language used secondarily now	Language less often used to communicate with others at the census reference time
Language most often used by father/mother	Language father or mother most often used to communicate

Question type: 3 — multiple language-use questions

Notes: The Taiwan glossary explicitly defines these four language-usage components and the question-source lists Language usage as a census questionnaire item.

Source: Taiwan 2020 questionnaire source Taiwan 2020 question glossary

Timor-Leste

Status: Yes
Year: 2022
Form: Population and Housing Census — Module E: Individual information
Question: Mother tongues / language block

What languages did <Name> learn as a child?

Responses:

Response / code	Option
1	Select at least one and no more than two languages from the list
Examples listed	Atauran; Bahasa Indonesia; Adabe; Tetun Prasa; Tetun Terik; Portuguese; Other language

Question type: 3 — multiple first-language question

Notes: The supplied questionnaire/report shows a Mother tongues block and asks what languages the person learned as a child.

Source: Timor-Leste 2022 census report/questionnaire