Save Chinese Endangered Languages

China is a country with more than 300 different languages, and with Mandarin Chinese being the official language, many of its indigenous languages are gradually becoming marginalized and are on the verge of being extinct if no effort of preserving them is made. So I believe that using my podcast channel as a platform to promote awareness of saving endangered languages is definitely something truly meaningful to do.

The main activity that I am planning within the context of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022 – 2032 is regarding data collection on the 137 endangered languages in China. The idea is all about asking for help from people on social media.

My approach will be different than the traditional method, usually known as field linguistics. I am planning to ask people to use their cellphones to collect those endangered languages’ data. They do not need to have any expertise in linguistics or languages. For example, when someone in China travels to a place where they get a rare chance to meet and talk to a person speaking one of the endangered languages, this traveler can collect any kind of data on that language, as much as they want to. I will then ask them to send me the data and I will categorize them accordingly. Every piece of data they collect, in formats of video, audio, writing, etc., will become significantly crucial for future research in linguistics, especially when any of those languages, unfortunately, becomes extinct. I will build this corpus little by little as I receive more and more data as time goes by. I believe that the power of social media and the mass population on it will make a collective contribution to the preservation of endangered languages in China and beyond.