# Are the language spoken variables (LANGUAGE & LANGUAGED) not available in the 2016 ACS US file? Any alternatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** USA\ **Created:** [November 7, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001 "2017-11-07T18:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nycgeographer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@nycgeographer](https://forum.ipums.org/u/nycgeographer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:09pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/1 "2017-11-07T18:09:00Z")
Are the language spoken variables (LANGUAGE & LANGUAGED) not available in the 2016 ACS US file? Any alternatives? ---
**Author:** ![Michelle\_Pratt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/michelle_pratt/32/194_2.png) [@Michelle\_Pratt](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Michelle_Pratt)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/2 "2017-11-07T19:02:00Z")
Due to changes in the 2016 ACS questionnaire, LANGUAGE will be released at a later date. It depends on the purposes of your analysis if these alternatives will work or not, but the variables [SPEAKENG](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/SPEAKENG#description_section) (whether the respondent speaks only English at home, and also how well the respondent, who speaks a language other than English at home, speaks English) and [LINGISOL](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/LINGISOL#description_section) (an identifier of “linguistically isolated households”) are available for the 2016 ACS sample. ---
**Author:** ![nycgeographer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@nycgeographer](https://forum.ipums.org/u/nycgeographer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/3 "2017-11-07T19:10:00Z")
Thanks ---
**Author:** ![YelenaV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/74df32/32.png) [@YelenaV](https://forum.ipums.org/u/YelenaV)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/4 "2018-01-19T03:39:00Z")
Is there an estimate of when the 2016 LANGUAGE field will be available? ---
**Author:** ![Michelle\_Pratt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/michelle_pratt/32/194_2.png) [@Michelle\_Pratt](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Michelle_Pratt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/5 "2018-01-19T14:58:00Z")
At this time, we do not have a good estimate of when it will become available. However, once it is, you will find a note of its release [here](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/LANGUAGE#description_section). ---
**Author:** ![nycgeographer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@nycgeographer](https://forum.ipums.org/u/nycgeographer)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/6 "2018-03-23T17:24:00Z")
Do we have an update on the estimated time of release? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Michelle\_Pratt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/forum.ipums.org/michelle_pratt/32/194_2.png) [@Michelle\_Pratt](https://forum.ipums.org/u/Michelle_Pratt)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/7 "2018-03-23T21:26:00Z")
Unfortunately, we are still working on this variable. It is difficult to estimate exactly when it will be released, however, we expect to release LANGUAGE in the next couple of months. Once it has been released, a note will be made [here](https://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/revisions). ---
**Author:** ![nycgeographer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@nycgeographer](https://forum.ipums.org/u/nycgeographer)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://forum.ipums.org/t/are-the-language-spoken-variables-language-languaged-not-available-in-the-2016-acs-us-file-any-alternatives/2001/8 "2018-03-27T18:04:00Z")
Thank you