Want to Learn Cherokee? How About Ainu? This Startup Is Teaching Endangered Languages

Some linguists estimate that roughly half of the world’s 7,000 or so languages are on the verge of extinction. A language might die out when a small territory is forced to integrate with a ruling power, or in many other circumstances. But when it does, a bit of human history goes with it.

The UK-based startup Tribalingual is trying to prevent those types of sociolinguistic losses, offering classes that connect students with some of the few remaining speakers of endangered languages. Research has long proven that speaking multiple languages improves cognition and may even help ward off dementia as one ages. Bilingualism is also becoming a practical, necessary skill for navigating our increasingly globalized world. There are numerous reasons to want to study another language—even one that might be on the decline or endangered.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/want-learn-cherokee-how-about-ainu-startup-teaching-endangered-languages-180965076/#RFGBjeKWVSWmRiIY.99