Tag: indigenous languages
Mexico Opens University for Indigenous Languages
In México, a new national university specializing in Indigenous language courses is set to begin classes by September, the Mexican National Institute of Indigenous Peoples (INPI) has announced.
The foundational documents for the new University...
Comprehensive Study Predicts Loss of 1,500 Languages
A comprehensive study warns that 1,500 endangered languages could no longer be spoken by the end of this century. Published in Nature Ecology and Evolution (www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01604-y), the study, led by the Australian National University...
Losing Languages Means Losing Remedies
The media frequently discusses language decline in terms of numbers alone—many of us have likely heard the oft-cited statistic that one language goes extinct every three months or the projection that 30% of the...
Fostering Multilingualism for Inclusion
Sunday’s celebration of International Mother Language Day, the UN’s annual commemoration honoring linguistic diversity and multilingualism, focused on inclusion, both in the classroom and in society. “Fostering the use of the mother tongue means, precisely,...
New Bipartisan Native American Language Bill
On October 30, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) commemorated the 30th anniversary of the Native American Languages Act (NALA) with the announcement of new bipartisan...
Support Native Language Center to Help Fight COVID-19
Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) is calling for the inclusion of a provision in the next coronavirus relief bill to establish a Native American Language Resource Center (NALRC) to support Native American language education schools...
“Nothing for us without us”: Roadmap for Decade of Indigenous Languages
More than 500 participants from 50 countries, including government ministers, indigenous leaders, researchers, public and private partners, and other stakeholders and experts, adopted the Los Pinos Declaration, at the end of “Making a decade...
UN Proclaims International Decade of Indigenous Languages
The UN General Assembly last month proclaimed 2022–2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, inviting Indigenous peoples—as custodians— to initiate ideas for preserving this endangered facet of their cultural and social life, as it...
Multilingual Focus for UN Literacy Day
"about 40% of the world’s population does not have access to education in a language they speak or understand" Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO
The focus of this month’s International Literacy...
Celebrate UN’s Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
Language is focus of this year's event
UN Secretary General, António Guterres, released the following statement today to mark United Nation's Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples: "This year marks the International Year of Indigenous...