If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Unesco: Languages under threat
Unesco: Languages under threat
Wednesday 22 February 2006, 21:33 Makka Time, 18:33 GMT In Africa, 80% of oral dialects are in danger of dying out More than half of the 6000 languages spoken in the world today may disappear by the end of the century, the UN cultural organisation Unesco said on the occasion of International Mother Language Day. The day was marked at Unesco headquarters in Paris by a conference on linguistic diversity focusing on the difficulties of African, Asian and American minorities to preserve their traditional tongues. Koichiro Matsuura, Unesco director-general, said: "When a language dies, it is a vision of the world that disappears. "Language is much more than an instrument, considerably more than a tool." He added: "In structuring our thoughts, in coordinating our social relations and in building our relationship with reality, it constitutes a fundamental dimension of the human being." Internet a factor A major part of Unesco's efforts to safeguard languages is aimed at ensuring greater diversity on the internet and in official texts, the organisation said. Today 72% of internet sites are in English, followed by German at just 7%, and French, Japanese and Spanish at 3%. About 90% of the world's languages are not represented at all on the internet, Unesco said. Some 20% of languages have no written version. In Africa - where one-third of the world's languages are spoken - about 80% of these are purely oral, and thus in greater danger of dying out, Unesco said. The African Union has declared 2006 a year of African Languages. |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Cruise ships cancel St. Maarten due to TERROR THREAT!!! | steinbrenner | Cruises | 5 | December 13th, 2005 09:25 PM |
Europeans don't see Iran as a nuclear threat | Earl Evleth | Europe | 78 | April 4th, 2005 03:29 PM |
Europeans don't see Iran as a nuclear threat | Earl Evleth | Europe | 0 | March 31st, 2005 11:04 AM |
"I Am Not American" Web Site Adds Designs, Languages, Merchandise | http://www.iamnotamerican.com | Travel - anything else not covered | 44 | January 11th, 2004 07:06 PM |
"I Am Not American" Web Site Adds Designs, Languages, Merchandise | http://www.iamnotamerican.com | Air travel | 64 | December 23rd, 2003 02:38 PM |