The Telegraph, Kolkata, November 28 , 2012
Eight languages spoken by tribals of Jharkhand are among the world’s endangered list of 1,763, including 171 in India, according to a Unesco report.
In this context, Sahitya Akademi, which hosted a two-day seminar on “Survival of Indian languages in the face of various challenges”, pointed out problems and pragmatic solutions to overcome them.
Delegates representing languages at the meet, which concluded in Ranchi on Tuesday, pointed out problems ranging from government reluctance to accept other languages as mediums of instruction in schools, vanishing generation of speakers and writers, invisibility in electronic and popular media and the globalising force of English.
As solutions, linguists and scholars stressed on speaking, translating and teaching as well as writing fiction for children in endangered languages to make them living and vibrant for generations to come.
“Languages die when we don’t speak them,” said Sreesh Chaudhary, representing Maithili. “There is no culture to develop them. This mindset must change,” he added. […]
The best suggestion perhaps came from eminent linguist Pabitra Sarkar. In his keynote address on Monday, he said:
“If we push children’s literature in endangered languages, they will flourish. Attracting youngsters towards a language keeps it alive,” he said.
Source: Tribal tongues to woo children
Address : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1121128/jsp/jharkhand/story_16246468.jsp#.UU9RAxk1Efl
Date Visited: Sun Mar 24 2013 20:16:39 GMT+0100 (CET)
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