Blog #1: The Last Speaker of a Dying Language

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/short-film-showcase/meet-the-last-speaker-of-a-dying-language

I found so many interesting articles and videos about languages. One of the videos that really grabbed my attention was about a dying language that only one person knows how to speak. Marie Wilcox is a Native American and is the last person who can speak fluent Wukchumni. It is the language of her tribe that has less than 200 members remaining. Marie is creating the first Wukchumni dictionary and her family also learned some of the language while helping her create it. I chose this video because during class we were talking about how hundred languages are dying every day and that got me intrigued.

It made me want to know more about preserving one’s culture and taking the time to learn about others. I know a few people that don’t know how to speak their native language or that don’t know much about their culture. When I ask if they would like to learn their native language or more about their cultural roots many of them say yes. My great, great grandma came from an Asian country in the early 1900’s but we don’t have much left of her belongings. I wish I did know what part of Asia, so I can discover that culture that she experienced when she was young before moving to California then Mexico.

Dying languages are happening constantly and we don’t hear much about it. This article made me realize how precious it is to conserve one’s roots wither its language, traditions or old folk stories. We keep losing languages and with that we are losing so much culture, its actually really sad if you think about. I admire what Marie and her family did to try to preserve their language.