"Many of the world's lesser-known languages are being lost as few people speak them. The government of such countries should act to prevent such languages from becoming extinct"
About five to six thousand languages are spoken across the globe! No exact count of the languages spoken is available, as there is just a thin line for classifying the languages/dialects. Language differs on a locational basis of a few kilometers. According to a survey some of these languages may extinct in the near future, and will be considered as dead language.
As far as it is about preserving the cultural heritage it has to be done to some extend. And it can be done by the community or by people of particular region by giving proper knowledge of there ancestral language to there progeny. The descents of the culture may not use the language in there everyday life in a globalized world, but this certainly can be preserved by the family and relatives and pass it on to the successive generations.
This task will be somewhat problematic for government as the number and diversity is so high and could lead to secular approach of small towns with different lingual basis. Above all, it could turn into a “good for nothing” political issue and may harm the unity of the nation.
The basic purpose of any language is to communicate, exchange thoughts and knowledge. As long as this purpose is served and we are commuting with each other in the planet its good enough. English is considered as a global language as it is highly spoken throughout the word.
I may just waffle about this topic as I don’t think the government of these nations can or should take it as a political issue. Attacking on heritage especially on the language to be used in any particular state or country may not be a suitable option.
A contemporary and apt example of one such attempt was sited in Indian state of Maharashtra. Where people from some politicized background, let me be specific Mr. Raj Thackery, a man of monarch mindset have made it a rule (illegal rule) that the state should use their heritage language ie Marathi. And I should not miss to mention that he is the same lad who organized a Michael Jackson concert for the first time in India at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai. The man who does not mind westernization, but creates fuss over youngsters celebrating Valentine's Day. Well I guess he is just being another hypocrite Indian playing political games on the name of saving the culture. This certainly is not any of his attempts to save the cultural heritage but just another chore of playing dirty politics in India.
