"Vanishing Words, Vanishing Worlds"

In one of my previous entries, I mentioned the problem of language death and the dire statistics: A language dies every two weeks, and we are rapidly losing languages along with a valuable source of human history, culture, and insight into how languages shape the way we think and live.

An article called "Vanishing Words, Vanishing Worlds" on Rapid City Journal made me think about a different question on the problem of language death. Can we possibly do anything to stop this? How can we prevent endangered languages from disappearing from the face of the earth? Is there really any incentive that we can offer to people who are native speakers of endangered languages to make sure that these languages survive for many years?

The article talks about an important example regarding these questions and attempts of people who want to save their native languages. People of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation are aware of the alarming situation that their native language, Lakota, is in. Of 20,000 to 29,000 people in the population, only 5% to 15% can speak the language fluently.

An important point regarding how to save endangered languages comes up to mind after reading the article. The way to address this problem greatly varies from generation to generation. The attitudes and thoughts of various generations are very different. For instance, the elderly of Pine Ridge Indian Population are aware of the alarming situation, but they feel disconnected with the young generation and do not know ways to teach them the language. Also, they are still haunted by the memories where they were not allowed to speak their own language in Catholic boarding schools.

The middle-aged people, on the other hand, even though they are better educated than their parents, do not speak the language fluently. Despite their wish to pass on the language to their own children, they do not know the language themselves. The reason why they were not taught the Lakoda language at first place was because people saw the language as a sign of being uneducated. Instead of Lakota, they taught their children more wide-spread and commonly used languages, such as English.

Now, there is barely any resource for the youth to learn Lakota. Although it is too late, older generations realized that knowing Lakota is not a sign of ignorance or incapability, but a way to preserve their culture and heritage.

What can be done at this point then? Is it a feasible solution to educate the elderly and teach them how to teach a language to the younger generations? Or to motivate the youth to learn the language with their own efforts? Would any of these solutions bring success at the end and help save the language?