Language helps bring people together. Shared languages and standardization has helped advancements in education, technology, and more! However, does the standardization of language impact more rural areas? Regional dialects and native languages can start to slowly fade away as we become more globalized. If a language is dying, should we protect it or let it go? Do you think we'll start to see fewer and fewer common languages, or do you think we'll be able to share and speak more? Come and share your thoughts with the Community using #EndangeredLanguages. We'll select 10 random participants and send them $10 italki Credits!

In my country, French and English are the official languages so everybody in the city Speaks one of the both. But in villages, we still have our vernaculars. Rich of more than 200 tribes having each his dialect. Time going by, many intercultural marriages have taken place. But unfortunately, The spouses and their children communicate only in French or English. We are loosing our cultures and inheritance. The Governement because of that Has starter to encourage the introduction of vernacular languages in the curriculums of Some schools It is good but too slow. What I do personaly is to encourage parents to speak their dialects at home Each person speaking his. So the children will acquire their parents native languages before going to school. I also registered in a course this year to learn my husband’s vernacular. It is a must to protect our languages of disappearance.

If I language is dying out, I strongly believe that we should protect it at all cost. Languages are an extremely important source of culture and identity for individual communities and for the global community as well. A world that is diverse in language benefits us all as we have more to look forward to and learn compared to if we let languages die and remain with a few common ones. Every language is valuable and teaches something new so if we do not protect endangered languages we take away from ourselves the opportunity to learn new information and new cultures. Allowing languages to die out can also be a complicated problem for the people that only understand that language as they will not know how to relate with people from outside their language speaking group and people will also not bother to learn the language as it is part of the endangered ones so this may create separation amongst people as they will not be interested with a community that is part of endangered languages. Letting languages die out also prevents people from being multilingual as they will only be interested in knowing the more common language so it discourages people from seeking cultural diversity.

Come and discover your level of learning language with the updated italki language test powered by Emmersion! You can unlock four testing opportunities with just one purchase, and know your speaking level in 15 minutes. A real communication environment also ensures the accuracy of the test result. Over 6 million people have been certified in over 150 countries. Why not join them! Then explore the next steps on your language journey whether you want to prove your knowledge, or prepare to take an exam. Click the below link to mark milestones for your language learning journey! https://www.italki.com/languageassessment/ila

Of course language helps bring people together. Shared languages and standardization has helped advancements in education, technology, and more! But regional dialects and native languages start to slowly fade away as we become more globalized. I think if a language is dying, we should protect it. Languages around us are unique, it's our past, our history, our culture. The language is our identity. We can't let it go. But also there are some common languages like English, French, Spanish and others. They are also important, they help us communicate and speak with others. I think if people know these languages, they will be able to share and speak more.

Doing research and preparation before traveling will allow you to have a deeper understanding of the local customs. How do you prepare for your travel? Come and share your preparation tips with the Community! You still have 3 days to participate in our event #TravelMeetsCulture and get the chance to win $10 italki credits!

Japan is known as a highly ethnically homogeneous country. About 98% of the population is Japanese. The language which is spoken in Japan is mainly Japanese. However, the situation has been changing these days. First of all, more and more Japanese people are interested in foreign cultures and languages. Even though Japanese is our native language, the number of people who speak English as the second language is increasing.Some Japanese study a foreign language other than English.Similarly,as for culture, Japan has been adopting various foreign cultures. In addition, I think the percentage of foreigners in Japan will increase in the future.As the aging population is becoming a problem in Japan, I think there will be a shortage of workers in some industries.As a result , Japan might accept more immigrants in the future.