Revival of an "extinct" language- Manx (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

Revival of an "extinct" language- Manx
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

iguanamon
Pentaglot
Senior Member
Virgin Islands
Speaks: Ladino
Joined 5263 days ago
2241 posts - 6731 votes

Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French)

Message 1 of 3

02 April 2015 at 2:58pm | IP Logged

I saw this article in the Manchester Guardian today: How the Manx language came back from the dead

Sarah Whitehead, The Manchester Guardian wrote:

In 2009 the Manx language was declared extinct. Today Isle of Man residents are using Twitter, music and schooling to help revive their ancestors’ mother tongue. “I often go to my local pub The Albert to speak Manx to friends, which is strange to think, given that years ago this could have ended up with me being asked to leave a pub,” said Adrian Cain.

The Albert is a local watering hole in Port St Mary on the south coast of the Isle of Man where, according to Cain, drinkers can now be heard conversing over their pint glasses in a language declared extinct by Unesco in 2009.

Cain, Manx Gaelic development officer at the Manx Heritage Foundation, is one of the thousands of speakers of Manx, a Goidelic language, closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. After centuries of lying dormant the language is now experiencing an unexpected revival.

“The Manx language is a wonderful comeback story,” says David Harrison, a lecturer who has spent the past 20 years studying endangered languages around the world. “It impressed me so much because it was a language that defied the odds against survival,” he says. ...

Edited by iguanamon on 02 April 2015 at 3:04pm
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liammcg
Senior Member
Ireland
Joined 4605 days ago
269 posts - 397 votes

Speaks: English*

Message 2 of 3

02 April 2015 at 3:12pm | IP Logged

Thanks for the article. I've been in contact with Manx speakers for a number of years following a week-long
visit to the island in 2008 or 9. Our music group visited an All-Manx school, where the children found our
attempts to communicate with them using Irish quite amusing! While the language was not in widespread use
(far from it) there seemed to be great interest in it, with a radio station etc. I still get Manx popping up every
few days on Facebook.
1 person has voted this message useful

BartoG
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
confession
Joined 5448 days ago
292 posts - 818 votes

Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Italian, Spanish, Latin, Uzbek

Message 3 of 3

22 August 2016 at 11:41pm | IP Logged

SaySomethingIn.com has a Manx audio program in the same vein as Michel Thomas. The first ten lessons are free. I haven't used it, but have been enjoying the free Welsh lessons at the same site.

2 persons have voted this message useful

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