According to linguists, we have more than 7,000 languages in the world today. Linguists also estimate that by the end of the 21st century, that number will decrease by 50%, and according to other estimates, even by 90%. Today ⅔ of the world's population uses some of the 12 most popular languages as their mother tongue.

The process of globalization has led to the growing popularity of these languages, while small languages are being neglected, pushed out of the education system, and becoming “useless”. People use them less and less in speech, which eventually leads to their extinction.

The extinction of a language is identical to the extinction of a plant or animal species. In both cases, the cause of the problem is humans, but we are also the ones who can solve that problem.

You may not be able to save a white rhino from the comfort of your home, but you will certainly be able to prevent the extinction of an endangered language. You need the will but also the awareness of why it is good to learn languages that are not among the most popular. We asked an experienced linguist and polyglot to tell us more about this.

Carlos Estevez, a polyglot and linguist from Mexico City, revealed to us 5 reasons why learning small languages has become his obsession. Carlos tells us part of his story about how he came up with the idea to learn small languages:

Nothing happens by accident

As I was returning from work, I thought about what I would eat for lunch. Since I lived alone, I couldn't waste time preparing food. I stopped at a nearby bakery and bought two muffins.

I continued further down the street. A stray dog, which I noticed just in front of the entrance of the building where I lived, followed the smell of hot muffins. I paused, turned, and looked at him.

His gaze begged me to give him at least some food, enough to survive until he found more. The rib bumps that were visible over his skin made me give him a whole muffin. He wagged his tail in gratitude. I was on the verge of tears, but I was nourished by the feeling that I had helped someone survive.

I entered the apartment, but I didn't feel like eating at all. I wanted to divert my thoughts by immediately dedicating myself to my daily routine - learning German. As I studied, I kept thinking about what had happened to me.

While there was a TV show on National Geography about the endangerment of the polar bear, whom I could not help in any way, I became aware of how many things in this world depend on man himself. Some we can influence and change, some we can't.

Then just something clicked in my head. For the first time, I associated it with languages that are on the verge of extinction and which will one day disappear. I knew that I was hundreds of kilometers away from the areas where they are spoken, but technology and the Internet have given me the opportunity to influence the preservation of small languages when I can no longer give a muffin to that polar bear and help it survive.

I started researching on the internet about extinct languages and was amazed to see how many there are. I became aware of what all humanity loses when only one language becomes extinct.

That motivated me and I have been learning Maori and Scottish Gaelic for some time now. I am becoming addicted to learning languages that do not belong to the same language family. Because learning such a new language is much more challenging for me.

I am more motivated now, because I know how much I contribute to humanity. I want to share with you a few reasons why you should also learn small languages:

1. You preserve the world's cultural heritage

As in the example of the polar bear, if one animal species becomes extinct, it leads to other problems, which leads to the disruption of the entire ecosystem. It is similar with languages.

When a language dies out, not only does it disappear, but the entire culture and history of a nation is lost. Centuries of cultural heritage cease to exist. Poetry, songs, myths, records of rituals and customs - everything disappears.

As the years go by, it is very difficult to interpret and decipher records in extinct languages, assuming that they are documented somewhere. If they are not, then worse, as if they never even existed.

Just remember how many times you have heard people say that they are learning the ancient Greek language in order to read the works of ancient philosophers written in the original. Reading works written in the original can give you a more credible view than any translation into your native language.

One of the best examples is the presentation of Chinese philosophical thought. Whoever wants to seriously interpret it must learn Chinese well, because it is very difficult to convey the original thoughts of Laozi and other Chinese philosophers, by translating them into any other language.

Take the example of Shakespeare's works written in English. We know that English is the most dominant language in the world and that it can be easily translated into other languages, and even so, people want to read Shakespeare in the original. The reason for this is that no translation is so credible. Imagine what it is like in the case of a language with only a few hundred speakers.

2. Personal satisfaction

Personal satisfaction - at first glance a negligible reason, but believe me, it is not so. Imagine the feeling of Usain Bolt when he knows that only he out of 8 billion people can run 100m in 9.58 seconds. Amazing feeling, isn't it?

Imagine now the feeling when you know a language spoken by several of you out of 8 billion people.You know something the whole world doesn't know. Now, many will say that this is not a good comparison, because Bolt makes a living from his running, and knowing the language that is about to become extinct does not bring any profit. Take it easy, I'll show you that's not exactly the case.

What I want to mention is the feeling of superiority that provides knowledge of ancient languages, such as ancient Greek or Latin. These are the languages spoken by ancient civilizations, which are used in science today. Those who know them can interpret the original works of great minds. And in this case, you know something that the vast majority do not know.

3. Better understanding of the culture of your language and people

You are probably wondering how this is possible? How learning a small language will help me better understand the culture of my language and people. The truth lies in ‘reverse psychology’.

The more time you spend learning a small language, the more you become acquainted with the culture of native speakers. Then the reverse psychology takes effect. Be sure that at some point you will also awaken a desire to get to know the language and culture of your people.

When I started learning Maori and Scottish Gaelic I became acquainted with the culture of their peoples. It was something new for me that I really liked. Completely spontaneously, I wanted to learn my mother tongue as well as possible - Spanish. In addition, I made the decision to travel around Mexico and get to know the cultural sights of my country.

I visited Chichen Itza, the seat of the ancient Mayan kingdom, for the first time at the age of 29. I was thrilled with how it looked alive. I was angry with myself for not being interested in the language and culture of my people before.

4. Learning an endangered language is the same as learning any other language

Many will disagree with this claim. People are used to learning languages ​​from the same language family as their mother tongue. The biggest problem with learning languages ​​from different language families is completely unknown grammar and vocabulary. A good example of this is the Inupiaq language. It is a language that has absolutely nothing in common with English, so its learning is considered frightening.

However, this is not the case. The bottom line is what motivates you and how serious your goals are. We mentioned Usain Bolt. You think it was easy for him to be the best among 8 billion people. His motive, perseverance and hard work made it possible for him.

If you think that any language can be learned overnight, then you obviously have wrong goals and unrealistic expectations. To be among the small number of people who know something that others don’t know, you have to work much harder, so the result will be far more profitable. Here we come to another important point, and that is that learning small languages ​​can also be profitable.

5. Learning small languages can be profitable

When choosing a language to learn, most people take into account how that language is practically applicable to them, whether it can provide them with additional work and increase their monthly budget or career progress.

That is why many people avoid small languages, especially languages that are on the verge of extinction, believing that they are "useless", that they can not practically apply them and that they only waste time learning them. However, these are just prejudices.

Guillaume Leduey, a French teenager, used the materials of the Alaska Native Language Center to learn to speak Eyak fluently - a language whose last speaker died in 2008. Guillaume didn’t previously know the language or culture of the people who spoke it. He now works as a linguist on language revival in southern and central Alaska.

Hebrew and Hawaiian are languages that were considered extinct and later "revived." Those who knew them took part in their "revival". The credit for having several million Hebrew speakers today belongs to a small number of people. So the credit for reviving another language that is on the verge of extinction, you can take away tomorrow.

We will agree that the possibilities that knowledge of these languages provides are a little more specific compared to the knowledge of widespread languages, but if you know a small language well enough, you can document it here and teach it to interested students.

We see that learning endangered languages ​​is easier today than ever before. Many think that the spread of technology is disastrous for small languages, because it provides a penetration of globalization, which eats small languages ​​in front of it.

But there is another side to the coin. The spread of technology has made small language resources accessible to people thousands of miles away from native speakers.

Greater flow of information raises awareness about the preservation of small languages ​​and allows people to organize more easily. Various platforms and forums bring together like-minded people who can communicate with each other and share materials about languages, regardless of the fact that they are thousands of kilometers away from each other.

If you are planning to seriously dedicate yourself to learning languages ​​that are on the verge of extinction, do not start tomorrow, start today because while you are procrastinating, know that some languages ​​you plan to learn may be among the extinct ones tomorrow.

Take a look at the UNESCO Atlas of Endangered Languages ​​to see which languages ​​are endangered and whether your language may be among the endangered.