105 Learning Journal #7

[Yi guo]

The reading reminded me of the other journal I had read before, Tribe Revives Language on Verge of Extinction. In the artical, author Kirk Johnson mentions that an oblivion to local languages paves the way for tribe language extinction. Specifically, he refers to people’s diminishing interest in less commonly spoken languages. Experts expect about 90 per cent of the world’s 7,000 languages to become extinct in the next 100 years. What will be lost if a language dies is the humanity coded in the language. The knowledge of human development the languages has witnessed is likely to come to an end. The diversity associated with a language is the richness of expression, the identities of our ancestors it embodies, and the roots of our community. Though I understand that it is hard to unify national identities between the past and the current, there is no excuse that reviving the less commonly spoken languages is a responsibility for people who are alive.