From the official Google blog comes news that Google.org is backing a new project to help save many languages from extinction – the Endangered Languages Project.
There are apparently over 3000 languages now at risk of disappearing completely from this world as the few remaining speakers grow old and eventually shuffle off this mortal coil. By the end of the century experts claim we’ll have lost as much as 50% of the languages spoken today which gives us an idea of the scale of the problem and the potential loss we are facing.
This is certainly a worthwhile venture as our culture and the history of mankind on this pale blue dot is deeply intertwined with languages and so it is vital to act now to preserve them before it is too late.
The financial, technical and also social resources provided or made possible by Google will no doubt make a big difference to this worthy project and you too can help by getting involved – all you polyglots out there should have no trouble adding a couple of extra languages to your repertoire so grab ’em quick before they’re gone forever!