Call them what you will: rare languages, indigenous languages or languages of lesser diffusion. They each embody a culture in need of language preservation.
There are 7,097 languages spoken in the world today. Over 40% of them are considered endangered.
There are a handful of organizations dedicated to language preservation. Here are a few standouts:
7,000 Languages Tackles Language Preservation
7,000 Languages uses learning software to preserve rare languages. Then they partner with minority and indigenous populations. Their goal: to create educational resources to revive and preserve endangered languages. Anyone can sign up for their free online courses and learn one of 20+ languages.
Related: How To Ensure that Medical Teams Can Access Interpreters in Rare Languages
Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages
Linguists and researchers at Living Tongues are documenting rare and endangered languages. Because of their shared mission, they are offering community workshops, where they have recorded over 100 ‘talking dictionaries’ for language preservation.
Our Golden Hour
Culture preservation is the focus for Golden Hour. Bangladesh has 11 endangered languages. Thus, they are teaching the children in their mother language. In addition, they publish children’s books in their native languages. Because these books tell their folklore, children are learning their own history.
Lastly, children’s books are multilingual; All seven books are available on Golden Hour’s website.
Related: Rare Language interpreter Helps a Child in Need
Save Kalapuya (yes, we added an extra one!)
Because the language of Kalapuya has been dead for 50 years; thus the Siletz tribe descendants are on a mission. Firstly, they published a dictionary to revive the language of their ancestors. After that, they are building out a digital archive for generations to come.
CLI supplies interpreters for rare and endangered languages. Because we believe language access is a human right. And so we offer interpreting services in a breadth of languages.
Contact us for more information about phone or video interpreting.
