CAREFUL READING
Read the following passages carefully. Decide on the best answer and choose the corresponding letter.
Languages are considered endangered when their last fluent speakers reach old age and when children are no longer learning it as their primary tongue. UNESCO reveals that 18 of the world's 2,464 officially "endangered" languages have just one living speaker. With the exception of just three, these are all based in the so-called "global south". Economic, political, cultural and social power is held by those who speak the "majority languages" while those that don't are often marginalized and under pressure to shift towards learning a more "global" language.
Not all people experiencing language shift feel marginalized though. Many Nigerians, for example, happily embrace the use of English as a world language, viewing it as progressive. Others, however, see their native language as a significant marker of ethnic and national identity. Nigerian artist AdéBantu expressed this in his song, criticizing the Nigerian school system which prohibits children from speaking their native languages.
Tribalingual founder, Inky Gibbens, began her social mission to "save, preserve and support" rare cultures and traditions after discovering that the native language of her grandparents—Buryat, a dialect of Mongolia—was classified as "severely endangered" by UNESCO and finding that there was no means of learning it online.
Some people suggest that there are three categories of response to language endangerment: Do nothing, document languages before they disappear, or promote language revitalization (复兴). Scholars have since considered a fourth response, which aims to examine the causes of language endangerment and promote sustainable (可持续性的) environments for them.
However, the majority of funding goes into recording rather than revitalizing endangered languages. A core belief at Tribalingual is that the only means of saving languages and cultures is by teaching them. Documenting alone risks reducing rare languages to "static objects," as they are denied the chance to thrive in practice.
"When I founded Tribalingual, I wanted to have a minimum viable product to take to market and test my assumption that there were people out there actually interested in learning about unique languages and cultures," Gibbens says. "Through my network I found people who were passionately committed to preserving and teaching their culture and language. Luckily for us, there were also many learners who share our excitement about culture and language."
According to Gibbens, Tribalingual "is fast becoming a global network of culture and language enthusiasts who are passionate about preserving our world's diversity." As the "first online learning platform for teaching rare and endangered languages," it treats all languages and cultures equally, regardless of socio-political situation.
or likely to cause damage or distress.