A language represents more than just the words it's made up of. It represents a group of people: what they believe and how they function. Usually, an endangered language is the direct result of a colonizing force acting to aggressively wipe out a culture, and strip an entire group of people of their cultural identities.
Indigenous people throughout the world are reclaiming their cultures, starting with reviving the language. Many governments are joining in the effort. The New Zealand government, for example, hosts ‘Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori’, or Māori Language Week, every year to reach the goal of having one million people able to speak basic te reo by 2040.
Part of our mission at Drops is to represent all languages, whether they’re popular or endangered. In 2019, the UN Year of Indigenous Languages, we added te reo Māori to Drops, becoming one of the first language apps ever to do so. We’ve also developed courses for Ainu, Hawaiian, and Samoan among others.
You can be part of the movement to revitalize endangered languages one Drops session at a time. After all, the best way to become a language hero, is to learn an endangered language! Even with learning just a couple basic words, you’re helping to give at-risk languages the recognition they deserve.
Elissa Gonzalez is a Venezuelan American UX Writer living in Germany.
