On Feb. 21, the UW-Madison Language Institute will mark UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day with a screening of Language Healers, a documentary on native language preservation and revitalization.
The film highlights four global efforts — including work to revitalize the Menominee language here in Wisconsin — to preserve and protect languages worldwide.
Although students at UW-Madison can study dozens of foreign languages, this wide range of choices represents only a small fraction of the roughly 6,000 languages worldwide. It is estimated that about half of these languages are endangered and are likely to fall silent within the next century, according to UNESCO.
And Wisconsin is not exempt from this worldwide phenomenon — native languages, such as Menominee, exist today with only a handful of speakers to represent them.
Language Healers highlights some of the revitalization programs happening worldwide, sometimes with the aid of dedicated linguists who take the future of their languages into their own hands.
The screening, which starts at 6 p.m. in Upper Carson Gulley, is free and open to the public.