In southern Chile, young speakers of Huilliche, a language that’s in peril of extinction, produce hip-hop videos and post them on the Internet. Across the globe in the Philippines, teenagers think it’s “cool” to send mobile phone text messages in regional languages that show signs of endangerment, such as Kapampangan.

Technology, long considered a threat to regional languages, now is being seen as a way to keep young people from forsaking their native tongues for dominant languages. YouTube and Facebook, as well as Internet radio and cell phone texting, are helping minority language groups stave off death.





June 28th, 2011 - 12:35 UTC
by A.Sennitt
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