Blog 1 (HUSNAINE): PLEASE READ BLOG BELOW AND RESPOND IN A 1 LONG PARAGRAPH
I think these various languages are dying for a number heedless reasons. One of the reasons is that the new generations that are born in the families of people that speak these meager languages aren’t being taught this anymore. While living in America, new parents feel like as if their children only need to learn English, because that’s the language they’ll be needing for future success. In other words, this means that those parents are taking their own language, something that holds a significant amount of importance, for granted. Additionally, the new generation might be being selfish; not wanting to learn their mother language and not worrying about its extinction. Also, another reason for the decay of these scarce languages could be because those people that fluently and efficiently speak these languages are either too old to teach it to others or, unfortunately, have already passed away.
Yes, I think it matters on so many levels that these languages are just vanishing from the face of the planet. There was an article posted in The New York Times about why we should save a language and the author, John McWhorter, makes a stupendous statement saying that “a central aspect of any culture’s existence as a coherent entity is the fact of its having its own language, regardless of what the language happens to be like.” In other words, McWhorter expresses the absolute strong correlation between a culture’s existence and its language, teaching us how they both heavily rely on each other. Also, McWhorter exemplifies this statement by saying “that American Jews who still speak Yiddish in the home are a tighter-knit community, less assimilated into Anglophone American life and less at odds with questions about Jewish identity than Jews who speak only English.”
Yes, we should try our utmost best in saving infrequent languages. One of the ways to save a language was shown by Johnny Hill, Jr., 1 of 5 speakers of Chemehuevi, Arizona. He was professionally recording various sentences from English to his language and I think that is one of the best ways to save a language. Also, another way we can save a language is by bringing people more awareness of this crucial matter. When that is done, the new parents who do speak these scarce languages, will perceive the importance of it and hopefully teach it to their kids.
Blog 2 (ASHLEY : PLEASE READ BLOG BELOW AND RESPOND IN A 1 LONG PARAGRAPH
As a child with two different ethnic parents/extended family I believe that languages are dying out simply because their children are not speaking it as fluently due to relocation/communities. If the majority of the community is speaking a different language they tend to as well. Language and tradition have this is common: those who don’t practice, forget.
It should matter because once it is gone, it’s essentially forever gone. Hanna Koper is 1/10 N|u speakers left, she dreams of others speaking and laughing with her. That’s what my grandparents did, they actually moved back to Vietnam because they felt so isolated and alone due to Vietnamese being their only language. Their grandchildren spoke enough to communicate, but essentially that is all. We can not read and write, we can sound it out and eventually understand (similar to kindergarters). We practiced as children, but in middle school and high we focused more on homework and less on Vietnamese language that wouldn’t help our GPA.
Even if our goal isn’t exactly to save them, Johnny Hill looks to be preserving Chemehuevi at the least. Through technology (and rosetta stone) we are able to learn new languages online. The option to learn a new language is there, maybe it will be picked up and used as a secret language due to the fact only 1/5 know the language. Other individuals enjoy learning something that others do not, not everyone’s goal has to be aligned if the results are the same.
Blog 3 (CHRISTINA : PLEASE READ BLOG BELOW AND RESPOND IN A 1 LONG PARAGRAPH
The last speaker of Pazih is Kim-Giok Phoan, it saddens me because she appears to be so happy in the photo and due to the fact she is documented I want to assume she also spoke a secondary language. It saddens me to think she hasn’t been able to converse with anyone, though she actually sings in the video. Her singing reminds me of Vietnamese prayers (at temple), it’s is relaxing and creates wonder as to what it sounds like when she is not singing.
I want to acknowledge that while we cannot save every language in the world, we can start preserving our own by taking time and learning from our families and instilling that into our children. If we were to think of language/traditions/cultures as recipes we would put them on index cards and call it a day until we need them. Those cards can be lost, damaged and pieces of them can fade away. The best way to continue them is to rewrite them every couple of years/generation. Practice make perfect and those who don’t practice, forget.
I believe that these languages are dying, N|u of South Africa, Chemehuevi of Arizona, and Pazih of Taiwan, because their people are leaving and not continuing to teach their children or talk with each other in the language. However, it could also be that because of when people leave and don’t return this is only making the tribes grow smaller. Leaving the tribes with only the few left behind to continue to speak the language. Especially, if the tribe members that leave don’t pass on the language to their children. In my family, my grandfather, his parents, and his grandparents could speak full Italian. However, when his parents and grandparents brought him and his siblings to America they quit speaking Italian to the children, and would only talk to each other, the adults, in Italian. Since, my grandfather was young when he was brought here and no one would speak to him in Italian, and he had to learn and speak English; he soon forgot his Italian.
Do I think it’s important if these language live or die? I think it depends on the people who have to teach it, learn it, and that’s their culture/heritage. I have a few Mexican friends who don’t know Spanish and they’re absolutely fine with it, and they really don’t care to learn it, because they don’t think they’ll ever use it. However, I also have Mexican friends who do speak Spanish, mostly with their family,but I’ve seen them use it a lot of times outside of their homes. Personally, I wished my grandfather never lost his Italian and had taught my mother so she could’ve taught me just because I would love to have that part of my heritage. I know some peoples heritage means a whole lot to them, and some people really don’t care about their heritage. Now, that I’m thinking even more on the subject I’m thinking that if it’s your language that’s dying out you should ask yourself if you’re really okay with that and if not what are you going to do about it?
I think the people in the tribes of N|u, Chemehuevi, and Pazih could save their languages by trying to send the young people out to meet other people and bring them back into the tribes to help expand them so that way they would be spreading their language to help keep it alive. They could also try to keep their people from leaving to keep the language in or maybe try and leaving with their families, and keep their language, but learn others from where they moved to. I only know English, I’ve tried to learn Spanish, but I’ve recently found out that’s something I strictly have to do one on one and use LOTS of repetition (thanks to STML). However, I do think that if you want to learn something (like another language) you can do it, it just depends how determined you are. I also believe that the same saying goes with if you want to keep your language; how determined are you to keep it.
