How to save a language from extinction | Daniel Bögre Udell

As many as 3,000 languages could disappear within the next 80 years, all but silencing entire cultures. In this quick talk, language activist Daniel Bögre Udell shows how people around the world are finding new ways to revive ancestral languages and rebuild their traditions -- and encourages us all to investigate the tongues of our ancestors. "Reclaiming your language and embracing your culture is a powerful way to be yourself," he says.

[Ravenesque]

My grandfather was part of that 1990s Cornish revival, translating most of the Bible into Cornish and running a learning course from his home office, first using snail mail and cassette tapes and then online. You would be sent a cassette tape and a lesson, record yourself speaking onto the cassette, mail it back and he would mark it and send it back to you!
As a young child I remember the many hours he spent making Crosswords for the cornish language magazine, and pouring over compendiums and dictionaries trying to find the best word for what he needed. Nothing but perfection would suffice.
At his funeral, his sending off was also in Cornish.

Thank you Tedx for unexpecedly reminding me of someone I loved so dearly. <3

[ElbowDeepInAHorse]

I never knew that Hebrew was effectively abandoned up until so recently. I just assumed it had stuck around and never had an appreciation for the effort made to revive it. Kudos for sharing this presentation!

[ailish]

Beatha teanga í a labhairt - A language is alive as long as it is spoken. Irish people were stripped of their language, culture and customs by the English. We need to make sure we keep it alive. Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.

[vikz]

It doesn't help when a State is actively trying to kill a language. In my country (New Zealand) successive govts spent decades trying to kill off indigenous Maori language. Despite signing a treaty saying they'll protect what indigenous people decide is valuable to them (obviously that included language). Now, because of that 180 year old treaty the NZ State is having to invest $$ into reviving, rebuilding and maintaining Maori language via education, media and legislative/bureaucratic support. Would've been simpler and cheaper if they hadn't interfered in the first place and honored the treaty they signed.

[biggus]

I always thought Silbo was a pretty cool language. I would like to learn that. I also thought it was pretty cool how some WW2 soldiers learned how to speak Navajo so the enemy spies couldn’t understand what we were saying. Those are some languages I think are worth saving because of their uniqueness and historical importance, not to belittle any other language. That’s just what I know about.

[RazzleRed]

Fellow Irish people, we can learn a lot from this

[Nstone]

I just got a book from my library last week called "Two Worlds: Lost Children of the the Indian Adoption Project." My great grandmother is Pottawatomie descended. She married another native and had 14 children but the problem is that she had been forced at the age of 7 to stop speaking her native tongue. She barely remembered her own parents.
My grandmother was effected by this assimilation too. She was forced to go to catholic boring schools. There they were not allowed to speak anything other than English and were heavily abused by the Nun teachers. I'm only a quarter by blood but its still part of my family. I tried to learn the lost language but boy are Algonquian languages hard to learn.

[Anna-tjmp]

How beautiful and hopeful. My ancestors spoke Scottish Gaelic and Yiddish. I am proud that one of my ancestors translated the Iliad into Gaelic in the 19th century, how about that?

Language is freedom, it is resistance.

[NoGoodNik]

The threat of languages going extinct has been really stressing me out as of late, not really sure why. I was talking to my grandmother about how she grew up speaking Yiddish but never passed it down to my mom, and I'm tempted to ask her to help me start picking it up.

[muhammadisaac]

I'm a Bengali speaking guy.
Today I really feel proud with my language! 🇧🇩🇧🇩

[abigailzhou]

What about a dialect? A lot of dialects in China have no written forms so how do we preserve them?

[Louisianish]

Merci, Daniel! J’sais pas si je t’ai déjà dit mais j’apprécie la mention du Tunica-Biloxi. Moi, j’parle français louisianais et créole louisianais (mes langues d’héritage) avec mon petit fils mais je pense que c’est vraiment triste que toutes ces langues indigènes sont en danger. Donna a fait tellement pour revitaliser la langue Tunica-Biloxi et c’est très bon de voir plein d’autres communautés en faisant la même chose avec leurs langues!

[evilsimsnerd]

It is sad that language disappears. But I still think it is inevitable to preserve all languages ​​in the future as the world changes but only time will tell.

[zubair]

You are a nice man working for a nice cause. God bless you my friend.

[alaskangymnast]

My language is Iñupiat. I follow many social media pages that help encourage me to keep the language in my home

[kingo]

This man has raised a very important issue which is much more in the post-colonial states like SOUTHEAST ASIA(I’m from PUNJAB, PAKISTAN)
and here one of the most simple ways to get detention in schools is by speaking our mother language Punjabi and schools (and sadly parents as well)are forcing us to speak English cuz it’s cool, impressive and pretty modern and the hard truth is COLONIAL MINDSET hasn’t really left though the ENGLISH have and this is taking a huge toll on culture and ancestral values which is so horrible and resultantly the new generation (of which I am a part of as well) knows
or speaks neither languages eloquently and fluently (though I’m trying)So
Make this your 2020 resolution that " I am going to learn my mother tongue fluently "

Also if anybody knows any good Punjabi space please share so that Punjabi Renaissance will happen!!...

[buarath]

Beautiful. I'm actually in a venetist group and we're trying to revive Venetian in its purest forms, not touched by Italian. it will be a difficult project, but I hope I can save my culture! "La lengua l'é el fondamento de na cultura e sensa cultura no semo gnisun."

[ellenestes]

I throughly enjoyed your presentation Daniel Bogre Udell. Keep up the good work at Wikitongues.

[kelusitepitbeautifulwoman]

hi, im trying to document n speak mikmaq as much as i know too. we losing out language fast. we have immersion in school but still the kids need to hear it on their phones. tablets. basic everyday routine phrases n words they need to speak n understand. thanks
hopefully in 50 years we still have some mikmaq speakers.

[stcenturymermaid]

preach this alot of people from different countries who live in american need to see this! practice ur native tougue teach it to your kids and grandkids! next thing u know we lose what makes us special and we’ll just be like american white people. . 100 generations later and jewish people retaught themselves their native tougue and some of yall so lazy cant be bothered to teach ur kids spanish or urdu or bangali or whatever language u come from. shame on u. there’s beauty in our differences and our heritage. keep it together yall!