Endangered Languages of the World - Summary by Vinodh Kumar

43% of the living languages are now classified as Endangered
Global language loss on a catastrophic scale is increasing in likelihood, with vulnerable language numbers rising in every continent, every country, and every corner of the world. Indeed, 3,078 of the world’s 7,168 living languages (43%) are now classified as Endangered, 100s of which face the very real threat of extinction within a few decades if no action is taken. 80% of endangered languages (2,484) exist within just 25 countries. Of those, the top 4 countries alone - Indonesia (425), Papua New Guinea (312), Australia (190) and USA (180) - account for well over a thousand endangered languages. If the governments of those Top 25 countries were to take proactive steps to protect the indigenous languages within their areas, 100s or even 1000s of languages could be preserved for future generations, and we could begin to stem language loss.
Individual governments can impose forceful measures to protect many languages from dying. But there are more inclusive and easier measures that individual community members can use to preserve their language or an endangered language in their local areas.
Steps :
- Creating and Maintaining Language Resources for Every Endangered Language
- Using Interpreting Services to Decode and Preserve Endangered Languages
- Using Social Media to Promote Indigenous Languages
- Taking Language Classes