How to save a dying language

A floating island that appeared in a Canadian reservoir and seemed to vanish has returned. Officials at Williston Reservoir in British Columbia spent months tracking it through satellite imagery and discovered it had drifted 30 kilometres away. The island made international headl ...  Show more

Imagine you’ve just started a new job or it’s your first day at uni. You’re talking to your boss or teacher, someone who’s much older, much richer, or much more powerful than you. Do you call them by their first name? Or do you go with Mr, Mrs, Professor, Doctor?In Nigeria, a vid ...  Show more

Researchers have catalogued 7,164 languages spoken around the world - some are used daily by billions. Half are spoken by less than 8000 people. The death of a language, when it’s no longer spoken as a first language by anyone living is a deeply significant moment in the cultu ...

Des langues rares disparaissent à un rythme alarmant, emportant avec elles des cultures uniques. Les efforts de préservation sont cruciaux pour l’humanité. Traduction :Rare languages are vanishing at an alarming rate, taking unique cultures with them. Preservation efforts are cru ...  Show more

From Papua New Guinea to the Andaman Islands, Indigenous languages are under threat. An Indian linguist helped preserve one language family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Half of all 7,000-plus human languages may disappear over the next century and—because many have never been recorded—when they’re gone, it will be forever. Dr. Ross Perlin, a linguist and co-director of the Manhattan-based non-profit Endangered Language Alliance, is racing agains ...  Show more