Welcome to 2019, everyone! To ring in the (solar) new year, we have a special episode for you on endangered languages. Did you know that another language “dies” (i.e. goes extinct) every 2 weeks? What does that even mean? We take a look at the different categories of language endangeredness, and even have a listen to 5 different languages: Sicilian of Southern Italy, Laz of Turkey/Georgia, Woleaian of Micronesia, Ayapaneco of Mexico, and (we think) the extinct Gamo-Ningi of Nigeria. These are so cool and different to listen to, and we had a lot of fun putting it together. Hopefully you will, too!
In language news this week, British sarcasm is often lost on Americans. Patrice would probably be a prime target of British people making fun of her without noticing at all. Check out the article from the BBC!
For more information on this week’s topic, feel free to surf the resources:
- Endangered languages with a link to the UNESCO list on the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/apr/15/language-extinct-endangered
- Different languages and accents all over Italy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEPyE-nR58
- The Al Jazeera report about the Laz language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAxSRdudq30
- The Ayapaneco language of Mexico has only 2 native speakers left, and they don’t really like each other: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/13/mexico-language-ayapaneco-dying-out
- Students in Nigeria who learn in their native tongue perform better on tests than those taught in English: https://travel.jumia.com/blog/ng/saving-nigerias-mother-tongue-from-extinction-728
- The Endangered Languages Project: http://www.endangeredlanguages.com
This week in Lost in Translation, Patrice asked her security guard a very awkward question. Don’t forget to send us your Lost in Translation moments! Next week we’ll be talking about Lunar New Year! And finally, sharing is caring y’all.
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