Who speaks Yiddish?

Answer 1

For Jews from central and eastern Europe Yiddish was a common language in addition to any local tongue. Today few speak it but for a few phrases or words. If you need a translator and are in NY try the Daily Forward newspaper people as that was a Yiddish language paper for years (and still is). If you're outside NY then depending where you are you can still try them or three bets are a college where Yiddish is studied, a "Talmud Torah" school, or a local synagogue may know who among the congregation still knows the language.

Yiddish words which have become English include: bagel (a bread roll in the shape of a doughnut), bris (circumcision of a boy), boychick (young man), bubkes (nothing), chutzpah (nerve), gelt (money), glitch (malfunction), golem (a man-made monster), goy (a gentile), kibitz (to gossip or bore someone), klutz (clumsy person), mazel Tov! (congratulations), nosh (snack), oy (interjection of pain or Horror), schmaltz (chicken fat-and as a result, sickening stuff), schmo or schmuck (stupid person), schmutter (rags or clothes), speil (sales pitch), tush (backside), zaftig (plump or chubby {females})
Many older Jews, Rabbis and Chassidim speak Yiddish.

Answer 2

Yiddish is primarily spoken by Ashkenazi Jews, particularly those from Eastern Europe and the United States. It is considered the historical language of the Jewish people in these regions.