Saving Languages From Extinction

Tunica, Osing, Sorani Kurdish and Dutch sign language—these are among about 500 languages considered critically endangered. With only a handful of speakers, and no active movement to revive the language, they could be lost to time. Thankfully, Daniel Bögre Udell is listening. The co-founder and director of Wikitongues is working with volunteers from all around the world to create an open video archive of people speaking and signing rarely used languages so they can be preserved and passed on to future generations. If we were fluent, we’d thank Daniel in every language we could.

#Language #Culture #History

This story is a part of our Human Condition series. Come along and let us connect you to some of the most peculiar, stirring, extraordinary, and distinctive people in the world.

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[couragethecheems]

Someday I hope someone would create a Museum or Library of Languages and declare it a UN Heritage Site

[kaluadog]

Forty years ago, there was a great movement here in Hawai'i nei, to save our Olelo, the Hawai'ian language. There were less then five hundred native speakers spread over seven islands. A grassroots movement to start Charter Schools, Hawai'ian only spoken. Now there are thousands of young speakers, the language is ALIVE!!

[coolguybrian]

I'm glad Ireland is trying to save Gaeilge, maybe all Celtic nations can try. (Scotland, Isle of Man, Cornwall, Brittany etc.)

[amgaming]

People like this are saving culture from all around the world, salute to them

[elineshappyplace]

This is so interesting! I absolutely adore that man for making all this effort to preserve so many languages!

[mitch]

Ireland: **Speaks Irish**
The Brits during 1167-1937: “We don’t do that here”

[abhinashdas]

Proud to be a Wikitongues volunteer, I learnt to love and embrace the linguistic diversity which is cultural richness of this world. Lots of love and respect to you @danielbogreudell 💖🙏

[arcticpolyglots]

“Each time a language dies, another flame goes out, another sound goes silent.” ― Ariel Sabar

[johnplockwood]

This man is doing great things. I got super excited when I saw Bavarian in the video. That made it clear, Wikitongues is really doing a very comprehensive job.

[yachishairclips]

I feel guilty of listening to this story right here... I am a Filipino from Mindanao and I usually speak in 3 languages and I speak as of today in combination of 2 different languages that I knew of...

Hearing this story is a reminder for me and other Filipinos of speaking purely as we can because that is why our language is in decline because Filipinos love to learn the worldwide used language against their own language

[isaac_aren]

In Ireland, the major problem I see as a student is other students don't respect the Irish language and have no desire to preserve it. The way it is taught in schools focuses too much on poetry and story writing rather than conversation and culture. This has made many students hate learning Irish and prefer that it went extinct. It really is a shame that the education system was designed in such a way that all it does is discourage speaking Irish. Irish is a very unique language when you examine it with features like mutations, simple and consistent verb rules, and a nice proposition system. It would be a tragedy to see it go.


In Éire, an fadhb is mó a fheicim mar dalta is ea nach bhfuil aon meas ag daltaí eile don Ghaeilinn agus níl aon dúil acu chun é a chaomhnú. Díríonn an slí ina bhfuil sé múinte sna scoileanna an iomarcha ar filíocht agus ag scríobh scéalta, in áit chómhrá agus cultúr. Dá bhrí seo, is fuath le a lán daltaí Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim agus is fearr leo go rachadh an teanga imithe in éag. Is trua é go raibh an córas oideachais deartha sa chaoi is go dhíspreagainn sé Ghaeilinn a labhairt. Ghaeilge is ea teanga saor uathúil nuair a scrúdaíonn tú é, le gnéithe mar sócháin, riallacha briathara éasca agus comhsheasmhach, agus córas réamhfhocail deas. Bheadh sé trua mór chun a fheicáil imithe.

[jadebrownbull]

Native Americans like me need to get more active in our beautiful diverse languages of North America. Preserved our languages means preserved our beautiful cultures.

[mutiyangpilingbabae]

Maraming Salamat (Thank you very much)
For doing this I appreciate your effort to preserve the languages. I hope more young generations in every country would take an interest to their language because it's culture. My heart breaks whenever I hear that a language was about to die and only a few people especially the old ones knew it.

[TheLovemilife]

Your work should be stored in every public archive in the world. And hard drives stored in the seed vault or some other perpetual storage center. Thank you for your work. Every thing you do is helping out future world to better understand its past. Teddy quote ignored I do thank you, keep thought alive.

[trinitybair]

Yes! I've been waiting for an episode like this! I love language and I'm so glad that there are people out there who share that love and are able to do something about it. Also I'm low-key gonna cry thank you sir for doing this

[tjredcorn]

My mother’s parents spoke fluent Ponca, but only a handful of their children picked it up. Today, my oldest uncle is one of the last in my family to keep it going. His wife, who is Cheyenne/Arapaho, remembers being forced into the Concho Boarding school of Oklahoma. Where she remembers a young Cheyenne girl who was beat to death for merely speaking the language of her own people. This isn’t ancient history either.

I meet with my uncle every weekend, while documenting and recording our visits. I’m slowly moving from vocabulary to phrases and sentences.

[Suite_annamite]

What we're glancing @0:13 is most likely *Sundanese* and NOT "Sudanese".

[SomeDudeQC]

Love Wikitongues. One of the first YouTube channels I subscribed to.

[cappyjones]

"Quiet Storm" is quite lovely! 😍

[codyshi]

Goodluck bro. I hope you’re able to save and maintain all of these languages. Regardless, what language you’re speaking they all have something unique about them.