How to Save Indigenous Languages

In this episode of Science Quickly, we start with a quick update on the Ebola outbreak surging in parts of Africa. Host Rachel Feltman is then joined by Scientific American’s senior desk editor for life science Andrea Thompson to discuss what rising temperatures mean for the FIFA ... Show More

In this episode of Science Quickly, one of SciAm’s Young American Scientists, biologist Jaye Gardiner, explores how common viral infections may raise cancer risk—not just through genetic mutations but by reshaping the body’s “extracellular matrix” of molecules that support cells ... Show More

In this episode, host Rachel Feltman interviews neuroscientist Kauê M. Costa, who is among Scientific American’s inaugural cohort of Young American Scientists honorees. Costa shares how being surprised by experiments has led him to new ways of thinking about learning in the brain ... Show More

All around the world, Indigenous women are fighting to save their language from systemic extinction. We look into a few examples.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Indigenous languages across North America are under threat of extinction due to the colonial legacy of cultural erasure, says linguist Lindsay Morcom. Highlighting grassroots strategies developed by the Anishinaabe people of Canada to revive their language and community, Morcom m ... Show More

Des langues rares disparaissent à un rythme alarmant, emportant avec elles des cultures uniques. Les efforts de préservation sont cruciaux pour l’humanité. Traduction :Rare languages are vanishing at an alarming rate, taking unique cultures with them. Preservation efforts are cru ... Show More

<p>Around the world, languages are disappearing. Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women who are helping to keep their endangered languages alive – how has learning the words of their ancestors shaped their identities?</p><p>Mshkogaabwid Kwe from Turtle Island, an indigenous name for ... Show More

How do you preserve a language when your government is actively trying to erase it?Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist who was trying to stop the Chinese government from replacing Uyghur with Mandarin. He had been studying the language's history, teaching Uyghur to younger student ... Show More

Australia used to be one of the most linguistically diverse places, with over 200 languages. Today, many of Australia’s indigenous languages are considered “highly endangered”. Inspired by his native language, Hebrew, Ghil’ad Zuckermann is a linguistics professor who is on a miss ... Show More

How do you preserve a language when your government is actively trying to erase it?Abduweli Ayup is a Uyghur linguist who was trying to stop the Chinese government from replacing Uyghur with Mandarin. He had been studying the language's history, teaching Uyghur to younger student ... Show More

There are more than 7000 languages spoken around the world. However, nearly 40 percent of them are considered endangered and are at risk of dying out completely. It’s estimated that in the next one hundred years, at least half of the languages spoken today won’t be around anymore ... Show More

Some Australian languages have been saved from extinction. We discuss Barngala's revival.