Track 66

Track 66.

Language is more than a collection of words and sounds.

It is an essential part of a culture that helps not only with communication, but is a reminder of a culture’s heritage.

It can give us a valuable insight into the beliefs and the way a group of people think, in the same way ancient monuments give us insight into the past.

Currently, the UNESCO Atlas of World Languages believes that there are 575 languages that are in danger.

This includes languages that have just a handful of speakers such as Yagan in Chile and Ainu in Japan, but also some languages where there are still thousands of speakers.

For example, it is estimated that there are around 170,000 speakers of Navajo, but the language is still in danger as younger generations are not learning it.

So why are so many languages dying out?

Why are fewer people learning the languages of their ancestors?

One explanation is globalization.

When a language becomes socially, politically and economically stronger than a native language, we often see displacement, the stronger language will dominate at the expense of so-called weaker ones.

One example of this can be seen in East Africa, where Swahili is spoken by 100 million people across Tanzania, Mozambique and Kenya.

In other words, it has become the linguafranca for this pocket of Africa and in particular the language of business for these nations.

This has led to other languages in the region coming close to extinction.

By extension it will probably become the language of art and culture as technology increases in the region.

Another factor of globalization that affects language is the movement of people.

As people move to other countries to find work and education possibilities, immigrant parents tend to be less likely to teach their children the language and customs from the ‘old’ country.

However, it’s not clear if this is because these parents are driven by concerns about theirs and their children’s integration into the new culture and local language or just that as immigrants they may have to work hard to establish themselves and not have the time to teach their children.

Nevertheless, there are some ways in which languages that may have died out in the past are being saved, and this is thanks to the globablisation and technology that have threatened languages in the past.

For example, Joshua Hinson, a member of the Chikasaw tribe in North America, was concerned about the fact that the tribe members who could speak the language well were getting older and the younger members were not interested.

He therefore developed an app that taught the Chikasaw alphabet and language.

This was a great success with the younger members and they have formed a Youth Speaking Language Club and are partnering with language experts to produce a complete course, which they hope to make available in the near future.