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Saving endangered languages | ||
Tags: Endangered Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| DaisyMaisy Senior Member United States Joined 5381 days ago 115 posts - 178 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish Studies: Swedish, Finnish | Message 9 of 19 20 May 2010 at 6:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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There have been some excellent posts already on the challenges of preserving languages, so I won't try to add to that. I will mention my own experience in working with Native tribes when I lived in a rural area for about 10 years. I am not Native myself and this is just my experience, so please don't think I'm trying to stereotype....that being said, here is a list of things I came to realize:
1. Most Natives are very proud of their culture and history and are very happy to share it with those who are genuinely interested. Learning about the culture by willing to sit back, listen, and observe is valued and shows that you are serious in your interest. 2. Many tribes have certain ceremonial celebrations that are very meaningful to them. Often they are ok with non-members attending, but find out ahead of time if there are taboos to avoid. For example, one tribe I worked with welcomed all to their yearly celebration, but picture taking was strictly considered very offensive due to part of the belief surrounding the ceremony. Tourists crashing their way through the crowds with a camera were not appreciated! Conversely, those who watched respectfully were accepted. 3. There is almost always a cultural center/museum of some sort, as well as materials about the tribe's history. Take some time to learn about the tribe. Genuine, respectful curiosity is appreciated. I think above all, ask what you can do to help, given your interest in languages, and try to avoid making assumptions. Let them tell you what would be helpful. I find the Native American languages so different from what I'm used to, and fascinating for that reason, so I wish you luck in your endeavor! 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5131 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 13 of 19 14 March 2011 at 12:44am | IP Logged | ||
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I've just started taking an interest in Anishinaabemowin (or Ojibwe) and have discovered a lot.
Although Ojibwe is probably the least of the endangered Native American languages, it's still in need of revitalization. I recently happened upon a show on NPR that features the Treuer brothers, among others, that explains what they are doing within their community to keep the language alive. It can be seen here in its entirety - http://www.tpt.org/?a=productions&id=3 I think they're largely successful because they've gotten the elders very involved with the educational process (completely immersive with the children in school), which otherwise would be handled only second-language speakers. R. == 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| CaucusWolf Senior Member United States Joined 5273 days ago 191 posts - 234 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Written), Japanese | Message 14 of 19 15 March 2011 at 1:58am | IP Logged | ||
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I know its not as endangered as all of the languages mentioned, but Ukrainian is dieing out to Russian. Its sad that the president of the Ukraine isn't even a native speaker. The fact its dieing is due to the fact that there simply isn't enough resourses in Ukrainian. From what I understand, all the Ukrainian websites, books, and TV is something like 80% Russian. I may make this the language I pursue after Arabic.(if I can find good resourses) Edited by CaucusWolf on 15 March 2011 at 1:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7157 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 15 of 19 15 March 2011 at 2:09am | IP Logged | ||
Ukrainian is certainly under pressure from Russian (especially in the eastern half of the country). However the western part is very conscious of its identity as Ukrainian and this extends to maintaining the language (if not letting it trump Russian, at least treating it more or less equally as Russian). The Ukrainian diaspora is especially large in the USA, Canada and Brazil, and judging by my encounters with the Ukrainian diaspora, I wouldn't worry too much about Ukrainian dying out anytime soon. People in the diaspora in a certain way tend either to amplify or minimize their heritage. What this means here is that people who make much of their heritage are very keen in learning more about it and if applicable enrol their children in Ukrainian schools or cultural organizations (e.g. Ukrainian Scouts). There are probably enough decent resources to get you started as shown in the Ukrainian profile. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jsun Groupie Joined 5086 days ago 62 posts - 129 votes | Message 16 of 19 21 March 2011 at 12:15am | IP Logged | ||
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I tell you my experience.
My language isn't endangered. But there are so few resources on the internet. And it is being suppressed by the government. 1. Build a small dictionary of that language and spread it all over the internet. (I made a Stardict for my language) 2. Make a romanized karaoke for songs in this language. (using aegisub, you can find tons of tutorial on youtube) 3. Once you have a small dictionary, Try to build an online picture dictionary WITH AUDIO., If you can find etymology, better find it. 4. (This is illegal but for the sake this endangered language....) Scan all the learning books and put them all on the internet. 5. Finally, what's most important is to advocate families to speak their language with children. This is the most important and hardest point. Maybe you can write a book too! This Japanese book teaches Hawaiian language! It has all pictures that help you to understand and learn.  Edited by jsun on 21 March 2011 at 12:32am 4 persons have voted this message useful |
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