Year Ahead For Indigenous Tongues

Thanks to Esteban Voth for sharing this.

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Photo: Alamy The year ahead: indigenous tongues When a language dies, so does a unique way of seeing the world. Time is running out for many tongues. Experts estimate that of the 6,700 or so languages spoken around the world, 40% could disappear by the end of the century. The UN has designated 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages to draw attention to the peril. Canada aims to pass an Indigenous Languages Act before its elections in October 2019. The act would give more than 65 languages spoken by First Nation, Inuit and Metis peoples national recognition. Technology helps, too. Duolingo, a popular language-learning app, recently added Hawaiian and Navajo to its courses. BASAbali, a wiki documenting Balinese, uses Facebook to reach speakers in rural areas. Saving rare languages needs people to champion them. The UN year will kick-start projects that could save thousands of tongues. The challenge in 2019 will be to get others to listenand start talking. Share this article Dec 29th 2018 Continue reading today's edition Download the app here. Five stories, six days a week, straight to your iPhone or Android smartphone.

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