Steve Walker CAN save languages -- but only with the help of other people!
Dear Fellow Earthlings,
This blog is the fifth and final installment describing what needs to be done to revitalize -- and, in some cases, to revive and then revitalize -- languages that are in danger of disappearing. I have, in the previous 3 installments, pointed out the five steps that have to be taken to bring languages back from the brink of extinction.
Today I will mention my major accomplishments to language preservation to date, my 3 least successful attempts to do so -- and finally, 3 examples of successful language revival efforts.
My third best accomplishment is that I have been able to make mention in my blogs of the fact that many languages are in danger. The second is that I have established a firm base of believers in my system, based on the satisfaction clients have when they get such feedback from native speakers of the language whose phonology they are attempting to master as:
"Wow! You sound just like one of us!"
The most important accomplishment I have made is that even as I help people sound the ways they wish to sound regarding the languages they are attempting to make their own, I have caused many of these people to become aware of the beauty of their own native languages or dialects. Indeed, quite a few of them have begun to make efforts to help preserve various endangered languages
"for as long the grass shall grow and so long as the sun shall rise each morning.
The third most PALTRY accomplishment I have made thus far is my inability to make a significant impact in the preservation of the Seneca language. My work on developing its training manual is currently in the doldrums even as the last remaining native speakers pass on.
Oh what to do???...
The second most PALTRY accomplishment has been my inability to recruit capable people to the cause of helping me set up "Jingles" synergy assessments and subsequent training regimens based on the results of those assessments for the the various languages and dialects of Earth. I am sorely lacking in recruiting expertise, you see.
Finally, the biggest lack of accomplishment I have experienced is my inability to recruit people of renown -- or to employ internet utilization to reach the masses. I need to find someone who can help me with marketing. Time is passing quickly and languages are folding up and disappearing at an alarming rate.
As for revival efforts, I definitely am impressed at how Hebrew is once again a vibrant, living language. This is -- so far -- the most gratifying success I have witnessed when it comes to language revitalization. Second is (probably) how the Navajo people of the southwestern portion of the United States are doing their best to make their language viable in all its facets.
There are many considerations for my third most impressive source of hope for languages, but I will mention here how two brothers from the African nation of Guinea, beginning when they were 10 and 14 years of age, have quite single-handedly made the Fulani language (spoken in a swath of territory running from Senegal to Sudan) a written language by developing their own writing system for it. Hats off to them.
Next week I will be writing a blog providing more details about the contributions of these brothers, Abulai and Ibrahim Bari.
I cannot stress enough the need for language management on a worldwide scale. If we don't begin employing effective management soon, most of our precious languages will disappear -- taking with them many priceless cultural treasures and lifesyle enhancers to be found within their fabrics.
Steve Walker
Earthsaver and Jingles Creator
© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.