It's reported that half of around 7,000 languages on the earth are in danger of disappearing by 2100.There are many reasons for such disappearance. Sometimes younger generations stop learning a language because parents want children to fit in modern society. For instance, native American children of the late-19th century were required to attend boarding schools where educators forbade them from speaking their native languages.
Endangered languages are ranked according to their risk level by the United Nations. A "critically endangered" language is one that even grandparents don't speak often. New York's Onondaga language is an example with only 50 speakers left. An "extinct" language has no speakers, which means it is gone forever.The last person who spoke it died in 2008. So this language doesn't exist any longer.
Various animals and plants benefit our environment.Saving these languages benefits our understanding of other cultures. Languages can show how a society looks at the world and what it values. The Endangered Language Alliance, a non-profit group, wants to save languages from disappearing.However, its efforts are limited. If an endangered language is going to make a real comeback, it'll probably get its start in schools. Now students in Hawaii can keep learning Hawaiian from elementary schools to college and beyond.
At least one did. In 1881, a Jewish linguist named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda brought the 3,000-year-old language Hebrew back to life. Today it is one of the official languages of the country of Israel, with more than 4 million speakers.
A. Alaska's Eyak language is one example.
B. Why should we save endangered languages?
C. With just five speakers left, it is absolutely endangered.
D. Can a language with zero native speakers come back to life?
E. Similarly, different languages contribute to cultural diversity.
F. Sometimes societies force minorities to give up their language.
G. The organization finds native speakers and records their stories.
