Indigineous Languages Cornish Podcast

Please Visit the Following Link to access our Podcast on the Cornish Language

https://clyp.it/ued0arps

What is the value of preserving indigenous languages?

Native languages are the heart and soul of an individual. They signify cultural heritage, promote national pride and evidently portray who we are in the modern day world. As human beings, each one of us have distinct features from one another, including that of identity which is centrally influenced by aspects such as our own mother tongue. Although at times we may tend to ignore such blessings,  disregarding their real natural beauty, which leads to issues such as indigenous languages.

Of the 7000 languages in the world, around 3000 of them are considered to be spoken by a minority, from which around 400 have 50 or fewer speakers, and 200 have below 10. This undoubtedly exhibits the significance of preserving indigenous languages in the modern day era as watching such tongues rapidly disappear can result in the decline of multiple civilizations, customs and beliefs. As this gradually begins to incline, we will end up losing track of facts or details, such as where certain historical monuments originated from or how mankind once began, and eventually misplace the central reason of our existence.

In conclusion, learning and maintaining our home languages are an immense factor in current day context, as according to the Times magazine, it is expected that 95% of all languages are to be either lost or indigenous by the end of the 21st century, leading to great chaos and utter disaster in terms of determining ones master identity. The relevance of this situation is key to deciding our future selves as well as the lives of generations after us and has been highlighted by numerous leaders across the world, including South Africa's former president and politician, Nelson Mandela, who said “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”.