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'

30

December 2011
Who.......That......Which
by Radmila Gurkova
Confusing relative pronouns...so let's find out how to use them! WHO refers to people THAT refers to groups or things ...

30

December 2011
Then or Than... Listen to the first 20 seconds of the video
by Radmila Gurkova
Ever get confused with Then and Than? Then...

30

December 2011
Too Much... Structure (Beginner)
by Radmila Gurkova
MUCH or MANY  Countable nouns are nouns that can be easily counted Uncountable nouns are nouns which cannot be counted such as liquid (water, w...

30

December 2011
London 2012: Athlete turns to eBay in search of sponsor
by Radmila Gurkova
An athlete from London is seeking a sponsorship deal for the 2012 Olympics on the auction site eBay... httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTCtDxsijdI James Ellington, 26, is advertising on the site with a reserve of £30,000 (€35,000) from any sponsor willing to assist. He will wear a sponsor’s branded kit in full training to the run-up to ...

30

December 2011
Was vs Were - Which is correct? (Advanced)
by Radmila Gurkova
'Was' or 'were' - which is the correct one to use? I'm sure you ask yourself the same question... Was/were = past tense of TO BE W...

25

December 2011
No more Turkey - I'm "Stuffed"!!!
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV56DJO6pH4 (Watch a different Christmas Carol)   Christmas Day is filled with cheer, laughter, family and food. Too much food in fact and often too much turkey. After traditi...

24

December 2011
Twas the night before Christmas...
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUzIF4eYRkg Clement Clarke Moore (1779 - 1863) wrote the poem 'Twas the night before Christmas' also called “A Visit from St. Nicholas" in 1822. It is now the tradition in many families to read the poem every Christmas Eve. We at Oxbridge would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas Eve. &nbs...

16

December 2011
What - No Santa Claus...?
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-3oCa07kjM "A Chicago news anchor enraged parents when she announced during a segment on children's gift expectations that Santa Claus isn't real. During a conversation with her cohost about how long children should believe in Santa, Robin Robinson, a news anchor at Fox Chicago since 1987, argued that kids s...

16

December 2011
No Santa Claus....? Spare a thought...
by Radmila Gurkova
Spare a thought for somebody... - to think about someone who is in a difficult or unpleasant situation Spare ...

16

December 2011
CAPTCHAs video - Real or Really?
by Radmila Gurkova
Real or Really? Real is an ...