Providing the Minorities with a Global Voice and a Global Audience

I read an interesting article at the weekend and thought I'd post a blog around it as it may be of interest to some of you. Facebook, YouTube and even texting will save some of the world's endangered languages according to experts.

It is believed that of the 7000 languages spoken on the earth today, over half will have died out by the end of this century. But despair not - for digital technology is due to help save some of them. "North American tribes use social media to re-engage their young, for example. Tuvan, an indigenous tongue spoken by nomadic peoples in Siberia and Mongolia, even has an iPhone app to teach the pronunciation of words to new students."

I particularly like these comments by K David Harrison, an associate professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College and a National Geographic Fellow: "Small languages are using social media, YouTube, text messaging and various technologies to expand their voice and expand their presence. It's what I like to call the flipside of globalisation. We hear a lot about how globalisation exerts negative pressures on small cultures to assimilate. But a positive effect of globalisation is that you can have a language that is spoken by only five or 50 people in one remote location, and now through digital technology that language can achieve a global voice and a global audience."

The wonders of digital technology - and we often think of 'globalisation' as being more relevant for those with a big voice. But the power of the internet, social media and the modern digital era is that they provide a global voice to the minorities. Whether that is minority languages, cultures, businesses, charities, political groups or any other minorities.