Preserving endangered languages is it worth it? / Sharina Saad

Language is the cultural glue that binds communities together”. The emotional impact of languages facing extinction is significant, especially for the last speaker of a dying language who experiences the isolation of losing their ability to communicate in their native tongue. Globally, there are about 7,100 languages spoken, but nearly half are in danger of disappearing by the end of this century (McVeigh, 2023). According to Young (2015), shockingly, 80% of the world's population communicates primarily in just 1% of these languages, with dominant ones like English prevailing in various media. This raises important questions about the loss associated with language extinction and whether efforts should be made to safeguard these endangered languages.