10 February 2012 / by Radmila Gurkova

Language - the endangered species

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McF3CoVHbYM

There are 6,500 languages in the world and 3,500 are “endangered”!
How many languages can you think of?

Every two weeks a unique language dies when the last speakers pass away. Mark Turin is an anthropologist working on language death as an academic linguist and has been living within a remote mountain village in Nepal for ten years with a community where they only speak Thanghmi, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by less than 20,000 people. The children in the schools are only taught Nepali, which makes the village language a threat for extinction.

There are many languages that have expired and have limited use today – The Laghu which was spoken in the Solomon Islands until it disappeared in 1984 or the Old Kent Sign Language which was a precursor for the modern day version and Gamilaraay which is still used by the tribe of New South Wales.

So make sure you keep your language alive and others too by learning more than your own!

DEBATE



  • How many languages do you want to speak?

  • Would you like to learn Sign Language?

  • How long would it take you to learn 6,500 languages?


KEYWORDS






























































Word Image Definition Example Listen
Endangered Threatened with danger The bald Eagle may be endangered Listen
Unique Existing as the only one or as a sole example This is a unique product Listen
Threat   An indication or warning of trouble Al-Qaeda is a threat to our safety Listen
Extinction   The act or process of dying out The extinction of a species Listen
Linguist A person who is skilled in many languages He could speak to 20 nations Listen
Speak To communicate vocally To speak to a person of various matters. Listen
Taught The past for teach They taught themselves to play music. Listen


GRAMMAR STRUCTURES:

Click here to learn about the word 'eventually' 

Click here to see the post on the 'past perfect tense'

24

February 2012
Both either neither
by Radmila Gurkova
We use Both/Either/neither for two things: Both Films are good Neither film is bad I don't mind seeing either film Listen carefully to the video - Both of the earths Poles.... Both of ......is always followed by the/those/th...

24

February 2012
all or the whole......?
by Radmila Gurkova
All/the whole..........? The whole We usually use the whole...

24

February 2012
I am able to understand English
by Radmila Gurkova
Be able to is not a modal auxiliary verb. We include it here for convenience, because it is often used like "can" and "could", which are modal auxiliary verbs. Structure subject + be + able + infinitive Be able to can be used with all tenses: I am able to drive.....

24

February 2012
Friday Fun: The History of English #8
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbvumrknAKs&feature=relmfu The series about the history of the English language continues with more examples of how English has changed over time. This video includes details about American English. It may be something that people are a lot more common with, especially with the impact of American 'movies' ...

20

February 2012
Words are made of letters
by Radmila Gurkova
Made is the past tense of MAKE Make in this case means - produced or shaped as specified It is made of gold ...

20

February 2012
Did you win?
by Radmila Gurkova
TO WIN Definition To be first in a contest, a race or something similar To gain victory ...

20

February 2012
I actually think that Pigs are cute
by Radmila Gurkova
first 30 seconds of the video For Spanish speakers actually is a false friend. It does not mean right now, nowadays it means in reality. Adverb: Really. This time he actually applied for the job. It is also used when something someone has said is surprising ...

20

February 2012
A lot and Allot - Confusing words
by Radmila Gurkova
Confusing words? A lot & Allot A lot Usage: As a noun and an adverb - A large number, very, many For example: A lot of people think that the economy is getting worse. I have a lot of CDs. A lot of planning went into it. ...

17

February 2012
Willy Wonker and a boat made of chocolate
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5U_jW-OQS0 A man in France made a boat 3.5m long boat out of chocolate and sailed it in a port in Northern France. The boat turned around two or three times and then broke apart. It carried three passengers or sailors! The boat weighed 1.2 tons and reached a speed of 15km/h. It took a team 1.5 ...

17

February 2012
185 things to do with a Pig
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRETz2F-heQ Christien Meindertsma, author of "Pig 05049" decided to take a look at the afterlife of this pig and find out how many parts of this animal were used and for what. It resulted in at least 185 non-pork products, from bullets to artificial hearts. In Denmark there are 16 million people ...