Protecting Languages: Why Our Words Matter

What is your mother tongue? How often do you use it — online, at work, or with friends?

You might assume your language will survive forever, but according to UNESCO, 96% of the world’s languages are spoken by only 4% of the global population.

That means most people communicate in just a handful of dominant languages — while thousands of others are slowly disappearing.

The truth is, many languages are now endangered. In the digital age, more and more people stop using their native languages because they rarely see them on the Internet.

This post explores why languages are dying out, what that means for cultural heritage, and what we can do to protect our linguistic diversity before it’s too late.

🧠 Vocabulary Builder

• Diversity – variety; the presence of many different types of things or people

• Handful – a small number of something

• Heritage – the traditions and culture passed down through generations

• Minority language – a language spoken by a smaller group of people within a country

• Mother tongue – the first language a person learns from birth

• Be linked to/with – to be connected or related to something

• Be down to – to be caused by something

• Die out – to disappear or stop existing completely

• Interact – to communicate or work together with others

• Endangered – at risk of disappearing or becoming extinct

• Linguistic – related to language or linguistics

• At a rate of – describing how fast or slow something happens

• Occasionally – sometimes, but not often

🌐 Why Languages Are Disappearing

Languages have always changed — but today, they are vanishing at a rate of nearly one every two weeks. In other words, by the time you finish reading this post, another language somewhere in the world might already be lost forever.

Why is this happening? Experts say it’s partly down to technology. The Internet connects billions of people, but it also favors a few dominant languages like English, Spanish, and Chinese. Only about 250 of the world’s 7,000 languages are used regularly online, and maybe 150 appear occasionally. The rest simply have no place in the digital world.

The problem is even greater for languages without a written form. Around half of all languages exist only in spoken form, passed down through storytelling and conversation. When younger generations stop speaking them — often because they want to fit in with global culture — those languages die out within a few decades.

The result? A quiet cultural extinction. Each time a language disappears, we lose a unique way of seeing, describing, and understanding the world.

💬 The Internet: A Blessing or a Threat?

The Internet has made it easier than ever to interact across borders. But it has also changed the way we think about identity and communication. If a young person from a small village in India or Mexico spends their entire day on social media, they’re more likely to post in English, not their native tongue.

Why? Because English is the global language of attention. It’s how you reach more people, gain followers, and join international conversations. However, when this happens generation after generation, people forget how to express ideas in their own minority language.

Ironically, the Internet can help save languages too — if used correctly. Projects like Wikipedia in Indigenous languages, online linguistic archives, and apps that teach endangered languages are giving smaller communities a voice online. For instance, Maori and Hawaiian speakers are creating YouTube channels and podcasts in their native tongues. These initiatives show that technology doesn’t have to destroy culture — it can also preserve it.

🏺 Why Protecting Languages Matters

Some people argue that if a language dies out, it’s just part of natural evolution. After all, Latin disappeared long ago — and modern Italian, Spanish, and French took its place. But losing an ancient language today is not the same as Latin’s evolution; it’s a loss of cultural heritage and human diversity.

Every language holds a worldview. Words reflect what people value, how they describe emotions, and how they interact with their environment. The Inuit, for example, have dozens of words for different types of snow, while some African languages have specific verbs for the sound of rain hitting the roof. When these words vanish, the knowledge behind them disappears too.

Languages are linked to philosophy, identity, and emotion. They are living records of human creativity. Protecting them means protecting our shared history.

💡 Language Insight: Can Technology Save Dying Languages?

Not all hope is lost. Digital activism is helping bring forgotten languages back to life. Communities are creating blogs, YouTube channels, and social media pages in their native languages to reach younger audiences.

For example, the Basque community in Spain has developed online courses, games, and news outlets in Basque to encourage its use among teenagers. In North America, Cherokee and Navajo educators are building apps to teach their languages in schools.

Linguists believe that to protect languages, we must make them useful in daily life — not just symbolic. That means speaking them at home, using them online, and supporting bilingual education in schools.

The Internet may have caused the problem, but it can also be part of the solution — a tool for connection rather than extinction.

📈 Fast Facts & Global Statistics

• There are roughly 7,168 living languages in the world today (Ethnologue, 2025).

• Around 40% of those languages are considered endangered, meaning they are not being taught to children.

• On average, one language disappears every two weeks — about 26 languages each year.

• The top 10 most spoken languages — including English, Mandarin, Hindi, and Spanish — account for over half of the world’s population.

• Less than 5% of languages are used online, leaving thousands invisible in the digital space.

• Children under 10 are key to language survival — if they stop learning a language, it is unlikely to recover.

• New Zealand, Canada, and Norway have launched school programs to revive indigenous languages like Maori, Inuktitut, and Sami.

• The UN declared 2022–2032 the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, focusing on revival, documentation, and digital inclusion.

These statistics remind us that languages are not just dying in remote areas — it’s happening everywhere, from small Pacific islands to inner-city communities.

🌏 Endangered Languages and Global Culture

Every two weeks, another language disappears. It’s estimated that by 2100, more than half of today’s languages could be gone. Yet, global culture continues to expand, often in English.

This is not necessarily bad — it makes communication easier — but it also creates linguistic inequality. Smaller communities lose their ability to express identity in their own words. Over time, their songs, stories, and oral traditions are forgotten.

UNESCO has declared that linguistic diversity is as important as biodiversity. Just as we protect animal species, we should protect languages. Each one is a piece of the human puzzle, a different way of thinking, and a reminder of how creative our species truly is.

Check Your Understanding

1️⃣ According to UNESCO, what percentage of the world’s population speaks 96% of its languages?
a) 50%
b) 4%
c) 10%

2️⃣ Why are many languages disappearing faster today?
a) Because of the Internet and globalization
b) Because people forget grammar rules
c) Because new languages are created too quickly

3️⃣ What is one reason some languages cannot survive online?
a) They are too old
b) They have no written form
c) They are spoken only in Africa

4️⃣ What do we lose when a language dies?
a) Access to the Internet
b) Cultural knowledge and unique perspectives
c) Grammar books and dictionaries

5️⃣ How can technology help protect endangered languages?
a) By translating everything into English
b) By creating apps, online content, and education in minority languages
c) By limiting global communication

✅ Answers: 1) b 2) a 3) b 4) b 5) b

💬 Discussion Prompts

1️⃣ What languages do you use every day? Do you think one is stronger than the other?
2️⃣ Do you know any minority languages in your country? Are they protected or disappearing?
3️⃣ Should governments spend money to protect endangered languages? Why or why not?
4️⃣ How can young people help preserve their mother tongue in the digital age?
5️⃣ Do you think English is helping or hurting linguistic diversity?

🌿 Reflection

Languages are more than tools for communication — they are the voices of human history. When a language disappears, so does a way of understanding the world. In the age of global connection, it’s easy to forget how fragile these voices are.

By supporting linguistic diversity, learning new languages, or even using your mother tongue online, you help keep those voices alive. The words we choose today shape the world we’ll speak tomorrow.

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