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Endangered languages are disappearing at an alarming rate, and with each one lost, we lose stories, knowledge, and cultural identity that can never be replaced. Many are spoken by only a few remaining speakers, putting them just a generation away from extinction.
This guide breaks down why endangered languages are vanishing, what forces are accelerating their decline, and the steps communities and individuals can take to protect them.
What are endangered languages?
Endangered languages are tongues on the brink. Languages spoken by so few people, and passed on so rarely, that they risk vanishing within a generation. Most have only a handful of speakers left, often elders, while younger community members shift to more dominant languages for school, work, or survival.
A language becomes endangered the moment it stops being learned at home. Once that link breaks, the decline accelerates fast.
And when a language disappears, it’s not just words we lose. It’s whole worlds: stories, memories, ecological knowledge, identity. Each lost language takes a piece of humanity with it.
Importance of language diversity
Each language holds a distinct way of seeing, describing, and interacting with the world. When thousands of languages coexist, so do thousands of perspectives, problem-solving styles, and stories.
Diverse languages protect knowledge that can’t be found anywhere else: traditional medicine, ecological insight, oral histories, spiritual beliefs, and social structures refined over centuries.
They also strengthen identity and belonging. When people speak their mother tongue, they connect more deeply with their heritage and community.
When language diversity shrinks, so does our collective understanding of what it means to be human.
The Current State of Endangered Languages
Thousands of the world’s languages are now at risk, and the pace of loss is accelerating.
Linguists estimate that around half of all existing languages may disappear by 2100 if no action is taken. In many communities, only a few older speakers remain, and once they’re gone, the language often vanishes with them.
If you want to help ensure that this doesn’t exist, you can follow and engage with our endangered languages project and subscribe to our emails to keep up to date with languages, including those endangered.
Statistics on language endangerment
These numbers paint a stark picture: without active preservation, linguistic diversity could collapse within a few generations.
- Roughly 7,000 languages are spoken today.
- 40% are endangered, meaning they’re no longer being passed down naturally.
- Around 1 language disappears every 2 weeks.
- An estimated 500 languages have fewer than 10 speakers left.
- Fewer than 100 languages are currently used widely online. Leaving most at the digital margins.
Examples of endangered languages worldwide
These examples show how fragile many linguistic communities are, and how quickly a language can fade when transmission stops:
- Kusunda (Nepal): spoken by fewer than 10 people, with no related languages.
- Ongota (Ethiopia): critically endangered, with only a handful of older speakers.
- Wukchumni (California, USA): a Yokutsan language kept alive by a single dedicated elder before her passing.
- Gardi (Colombia): a Chibchan language with rapid speaker decline.
N|uu (South Africa): one of the world’s oldest languages, nearly lost after colonial suppression. - Kawésqar (Chile): a Patagonian language with fewer than 20 native speakers.
Cultural significance of these languages
When a language dies, it’s not just speech that disappears. It’s culture, memory, and knowledge that humanity cannot replace.
These endangered languages carry:
- Unique worldviews: ways of understanding time, space, kinship, and the environment.
- Traditional ecological knowledge: including plant medicine, farming methods, and wildlife behaviour.
- Oral histories and mythology: stories not written down anywhere else.
- Community identity: languages bind people together and preserve a sense of belonging.
- Intergenerational memory: cultural practices, rituals, and values passed from one generation to the next.
Factors Contributing to Language Disappearance
Endangered languages are not fading by accident; they’re being pushed aside by powerful global forces that favour dominant languages. Understanding these factors is essential for anyone researching why languages disappear or how globalisation affects linguistic diversity:
Globalisation and cultural homogenisation
As global media, trade, and technology spread, a handful of dominant languages, English, Spanish, Mandarin, and French, increasingly shape daily life. Communities often shift towards these languages for economic mobility, modern employment, or access to global culture.
This creates a form of cultural homogenisation, where smaller languages lose space in public life, entertainment, and digital platforms. Once a language stops appearing in media, music, and online search, younger generations have fewer reasons to use it.
Urbanisation and migration patterns
Urbanisation is one of the strongest predictors of language loss. When families move from rural villages to cities, they often adopt a dominant national language to fit in socially and professionally.
Over time, heritage languages become restricted to home conversations and eventually fall silent.
Migration across borders accelerates this shift even further, as diaspora communities choose widely spoken languages to navigate schools, workplaces, and services.
Education systems favouring dominant languages
In many countries, schools teach almost exclusively in a dominant or colonial language. This pushes minority languages out of formal spaces, making them seem less valuable or less “modern.”
Children quickly learn that success is tied to the language of education, exams, and official documents. Without bilingual education or community language programmes, intergenerational transmission drops sharply.
Political and social pressures
Some languages decline because communities face direct or indirect pressure to abandon them. This may include:
- policies that ban or discourage their use
- stigma against indigenous or minority identities
- discrimination linked to accents or dialects
- lack of government support for preservation initiatives
The Role of Technology
Technology shapes how languages evolve, disappear, and survive in the modern world. It influences what we speak day to day, what we see online, and which voices remain visible.
For many endangered languages, technology can be both a threat and an unexpected lifeline.
Impact of digital communication on language use
Digital communication, from messaging apps to global platforms, overwhelmingly favours dominant languages. Most interfaces, keyboards, autocorrect systems, and online services default to English, Spanish, or Mandarin, making smaller languages less practical for daily digital use.
When a language isn’t supported by software, search tools, or common apps, younger generations often switch to a dominant language simply because it’s easier to type, share, and connect.
Language preservation through technology
At the same time, technology is revolutionising how endangered languages are documented and revitalised. Communities and linguists are using digital tools to preserve and teach their languages in ways that weren’t possible before.
This includes:
- interactive mobile apps for learning vocabulary and pronunciation
- online dictionaries and searchable archives
- audio and video recordings of native speakers
- community-led YouTube channels, podcasts, and livestreams
- digital storytelling projects that capture oral traditions
- AI models trained to recognise and reproduce minority languages
The double-edged sword of social media
Social media has become one of the most influential forces in language use, especially among younger speakers. It can push communities towards dominant languages for reach and recognition.
Many indigenous and minority languages have found new life on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, where creators blend humour, heritage, and everyday conversation in their native tongues.
Viral videos in Quechua, Basque, Māori, Hawaiian, and Sámi show how online visibility can restore pride and encourage language learning.
Yet the risk remains: global algorithms still prioritise widespread languages, and smaller ones can disappear in the noise unless actively promoted.
The Importance of Language Revitalisation
Revitalising endangered languages isn’t just about saving words. It’s about protecting culture, identity, and knowledge that would otherwise disappear forever.
When communities breathe life back into their languages, they strengthen social bonds, reclaim history, and pass something meaningful to the next generation.
Revitalisation gives people the confidence to speak their mother tongue proudly rather than quietly letting it fade.
Benefits of preserving endangered languages
Preserving a language enriches far more than vocabulary. It anchors communities, strengthens cultural resilience, and expands global understanding.
Revitalised languages often bring:
- Stronger community cohesion: shared speech builds trust, connection, and belonging.
- Knowledge preservation: traditional ecological knowledge, plant medicine, stories, and rituals survive.
- Educational benefits: bilingual children typically show improved cognitive flexibility and problem-solving skills.
- Economic and social empowerment: communities gain recognition, cultural visibility, and opportunities in tourism, media, and education.
- Intergenerational connection: grandparents and grandchildren can communicate through shared heritage rather than a lost tradition.
Connection to cultural identity and heritage
Language is one of the strongest markers of identity. It shapes how people see themselves and how they belong within a community.
When a language fades, the link to ancestors, stories, values, and land often weakens too.
For many indigenous and minority groups, learning or relearning their language becomes an act of cultural recovery — a way of healing the wounds left by discrimination, colonisation, or forced assimilation.
Case studies of successful revitalization efforts
There are inspiring examples around the world that show language decline can be reversed with commitment and community effort.
Māori (New Zealand)
Once critically endangered, Māori has experienced a major revival through language nests, immersion schools, media channels, and official government support. It is now spoken by a growing number of young people.
Welsh (Wales)
A combination of bilingual education, public signage, and national media channels has helped Welsh grow in both usage and status. It’s now one of the strongest revitalised languages in Europe.
Hawaiian (Hawaiʻi)
After nearly collapsing, Hawaiian bounced back through immersion schools (Nā Pūnana Leo), university programmes, and the integration of the language into cultural tourism and identity. Young families are raising children as native speakers again.
Inuktitut (Canada)
Digital tools, children’s programming, and government-backed preservation policies have helped maintain Inuktitut across the Arctic, supporting thousands of speakers in remote regions.
Educational Approaches to Language Preservation
Education is one of the most powerful ways to keep endangered languages alive. When a language appears in classrooms and not only in homes, it gains legitimacy, visibility, and a pathway to reach new generations.
Schools become cultural anchors where young people can learn, speak, and celebrate their linguistic heritage.
Bilingual education programs
Bilingual programmes help children develop literacy and academic skills in both their heritage language and a dominant national language.
Instead of pushing one aside, they allow both to coexist.
This strengthens cultural identity, boosts cognitive development, and encourages families to maintain the language at home. When students see their mother tongue used in lessons, assemblies, and school materials, it reinforces that the language is relevant and valued.
Language immersion schools
Immersion schools take preservation a step further by using the endangered language as the primary medium of instruction.
Subjects like science, maths, and art are taught entirely through the language, giving children continuous, natural exposure.
This model has driven some of the world’s most successful revitalisation efforts, such as Māori and Hawaiian, by creating confident young speakers who use the language in everyday life.
Incorporating endangered languages into curricula
Even when full immersion isn’t possible, integrating endangered languages into the curriculum can make a meaningful impact.
Schools may introduce regular language classes, explore local history through traditional stories, run cultural workshops, or offer electives at higher levels.
These approaches help students build a connection to their heritage while raising respect for linguistic diversity across the wider community.
Here are some of the most effective educational strategies used worldwide:
- Bilingual education that balances heritage and dominant languages.
- Immersion programmes where most subjects are taught in the endangered language.
- Curriculum integration, including lessons, cultural content, and storytelling.
- Community involvement, bringing elders and fluent speakers into classrooms.
- University pathways, such as linguistics courses and teacher training.
Government and Policy Support
Government action can make the difference between a language surviving or slipping into silence.
When policies recognise, protect, and promote minority languages, communities gain the endangered languages resources and confidence they need to keep their heritage alive.
Supportive legislation raises the status of endangered languages and ensures they have a place in public life, education, and media, areas where languages often disappear first.
Importance of supportive legislation
Strong legal protection is one of the most effective tools for language preservation.
Official recognition gives endangered languages a foothold in public institutions, from schools and courts to broadcasting and local government.
Policies that fund teacher training, dictionaries, media content, and community programmes help create long-term stability rather than short-term projects.
Examples of successful language policies
Several regions have demonstrated how effective legislation can turn decline into revival:
- Wales (Welsh): The Welsh Language Act and the creation of Welsh-language media (such as S4C) helped increase speaker numbers and normalise daily use.
- New Zealand (Māori): Recognition of Māori as an official language, combined with funding for immersion schools and broadcasting, has brought the language back into homes and public life.
- Canada (Inuktitut and other Indigenous languages): The Indigenous Languages Act supports documentation, education, and community initiatives across multiple First Nations, Inuit, and Métis languages.
- Ireland (Irish Gaelic): Government-backed Gaeltacht regions, bilingual signage, and media networks have helped preserve Irish as a national language.
International efforts and organisations
Protecting endangered languages is a global responsibility. International organisations play a crucial role by providing funding, research, advocacy, and frameworks that support communities and governments working to preserve their linguistic heritage.
These initiatives help raise awareness, set global standards, and ensure that language rights are recognised as part of cultural and human rights.
| Organisation / Initiative | Role in Language Preservation |
| UNESCO | Maintains the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, leads global campaigns, and promotes language rights as part of cultural heritage. |
| UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues | Advocates for Indigenous language rights within broader human rights, cultural identity, and policy frameworks. |
| Endangered Languages Project | Provides a global online platform for documentation, teaching resources, community projects, and digital preservation. |
| International Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032) | A UN initiative coordinating worldwide investment, policy support, and long-term strategies for revitalising Indigenous languages. |
How Individuals Can Help
Language preservation isn’t only the work of governments or global organisations. It’s something ordinary people can support in meaningful, everyday ways.
Individual action creates visibility, strengthens community pride, and helps keep endangered languages alive for future generations.
Learning and using endangered languages
One of the most direct ways to support a language is simply to learn it.
Whether through online courses, community classes, YouTube channels, or language apps developed by Indigenous groups, every learner adds value.
The language in conversations, social media posts, or creative projects helps normalise it and encourages speakers to take pride in their heritage. Even learning basic greetings or phrases can create a sense of connection and respect.
Supporting language preservation organisations
Many groups work tirelessly to document, revitalise, and teach endangered languages. Individuals can contribute by donating, volunteering, sharing their content, or participating in community events.
These organisations often create dictionaries, record elders, run immersion camps, and develop learning materials, but they rely on public support to continue their work.
| Organisation | What They Do | How Individuals Can Help |
| Donate, fund specific language projects, and amplify research outputs. | Creates accessible guides, articles, and digital resources that raise awareness of endangered languages and promote global linguistic diversity. Develops campaigns such as 500 Languages Online by 2030 to support visibility and preservation. | Donate, submit resources, share content, and join community initiatives. |
| Endangered Languages Project (ELP) | Hosts digital archives, learning materials, and community-led documentation projects. | Donate, fund specific language projects, and amplify research outputs. |
| Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages | Documents languages, creates digital dictionaries, and supports field research with Indigenous communities. | Donate, fund specific language projects, amplify research outputs. |
| The Language Conservancy (TLC) | Develops textbooks, apps, and teacher training for Indigenous languages worldwide. | Attend events, volunteer, and promote their work locally and online. |
| First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC) | Supports Indigenous language learning through immersion camps, grants, and community programmes. | Volunteer, donate, attend workshops, raise awareness. |
| UNESCO Indigenous Languages Initiatives | Coordinates global campaigns, research, and preservation frameworks. | Buy or share learning materials, donate, or support school programmes. |
| SIL International | Produces grammars, dictionaries, and documentation for minority languages. | Support publications, share resources, and volunteer linguistic skills. |
| National or Local Community Language Groups | Offer classes, storytelling sessions, elder recordings, and cultural events. | Read and share articles, engage with campaigns, participate in preservation challenges, and support LLH’s mission through visibility and community involvement. |
Advocating for policy changes
Individuals can also help by supporting policy changes that protect linguistic rights.
This may involve signing petitions, raising awareness, voting for representatives who champion cultural and Indigenous rights, or encouraging schools and local councils to integrate heritage languages into their programmes.
FAQs for Why Endangered Languages are Disappearing
How does UNESCO determine if a language is endangered?
UNESCO evaluates factors such as intergenerational transmission, number of speakers, community attitudes, and the presence of the language in education, media, and public life. These criteria determine whether a language is vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.
Can a language be revived if it has no living speakers?
Yes. Languages with no native speakers can still be revived through recordings, written materials, and community-led learning programmes. Successful examples include Hebrew and several Indigenous languages that have returned from “dormant” status.
Do endangered languages have the same linguistic complexity as global languages?
Absolutely. Endangered languages can be just as rich in grammar, vocabulary, and expressive ability as widely spoken languages. Some contain unique features not found anywhere else in the world.
Why do some communities shift away from their heritage language voluntarily?
Communities may adopt a dominant language for better access to education, employment, technology, or social mobility. Over time, this shift becomes generational, reducing the everyday use of the heritage language.
Does preserving a language require it to become an official language?
No. While official recognition helps, a language can thrive through community-led education, media, digital tools, and cultural initiatives. Strong local use is often more important than legal status.