So many languages are used all over the world, but so many have also gone extinct. The languages that become extinct are usually spoken by a smaller population, and as that population becomes older, the language gets lost. In the video we watched, the individuals who spoke the near-extinct language could hardly hear, speak, or communicate. These languages need to be taught to the younger generation so that they do not disappear as the older generation passes away. Sometimes these languages are not passed down the line because the increase in communication and connection extends the hand for larger languages to take over. As the article says, it is also more difficult to save some native languages when there are hundreds in the area. It said that even Nigeria has 500 different languages spoken by the people. Over time, these languages start to share with one another or are just completely forgotten overall. When these languages reach extinction, all the stories, culture, and history are threatened, which is why it is important to revive them.
There have been movements in many areas to revive the native languages in their area. They must start young and teach languages to younger people. Revitalization is most successful when the local people are motivated to preserve the language. An example of this that the article talked about was a petition sent around New Zealand to begin offering Māori language classes for the schoolchildren. This action helped to re-educate the population about the native language. Communities have also worked towards saving native languages by starting radio shows, holding various cultural events, and introducing TV shows that are in the native language. I can use these examples as inspiration on how to better learn Korean.
Dead languages can be brought back to life. After languages die, they may never be used in people’s daily lives, but they mustn't be completely lost. One example of this is the Latin language. I took Latin in high school, but people often questioned me about why I was learning a dead language. Even though it is not technically used in daily speech, there are many historical documents and is often used in the Catholic Church. Many schools take the approach of only learning to read and write Latin, but my school took the approach of learning it like any other language. We learned to listen, speak, read, and write it. Revitalizing and learning these languages in school is also hugely important because you learn so much about the history and culture of the language. It is very important to linguists to work to record and preserve languages in any way they can.
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