Languages go extinct when there aren’t enough people speaking the language to pass it down. And at the time that nobody speaks that language, the language becomes dead and its cultural related things also become dead with the language. According to David Harrison's interview, the rate of languages go extinct is about one language every two weeks. And there are about 3500 languages is expected to go extinct. 80% of the world's population speaks the major languages, for example English, Spanish and Mandarin, there are thousands of languages that are on the edge of becoming extinct. A language can be dead because of different types of reason. One of those reasons is because the speakers of a certain language are taken in by a dominant language or group. When there are no speakers left, the language is dead. Passing down a language to the next generations becomes difficult especially since children may choose to stick with another language. It is really sad to see a language disappear from this world because it is not only a way to express but also culture.
It is possible to help preserve a dying language and even resurrect a dead language. With the help of linguists, an American Indian tribe whose language, Siletz Dee-ni only had 5 speakers left, was able to create a dictionary that helped record and preserve the language because linguists are helping find new people to learn this language. Now, it is being taught until sixth grade at a public charter school in Siletz. However, in the hurly-burly of modern communications, keeping a language alive goes far beyond a simple count of how many people can conjugate its verbs. There is still a long way to go.
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