<div dir="ltr"><div><h6 class="" style="margin:0px;color:black;font-size:1em;line-height:1.4em;font-weight:normal;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase">MEMO FROM PARAGUAY</h6><h1 itemprop="headline" class="" style="margin:0px 0px 8px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:2.4em;line-height:1.083em;font-weight:normal;font-family:georgia,'times new roman',times,serif">
An Indigenous Language With Unique Staying Power</h1><div class="" style="width:600px;margin-bottom:8px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:georgia,'times new roman',times,serif;font-size:10px;line-height:15px"><span itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"><img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/03/12/world/americas/PARAGUAY/PARAGUAY-articleLarge.jpg" width="600" height="360" alt="" border="0" itemprop="url"><div itemprop="copyrightHolder" class="" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:0.9em;line-height:1.223em;text-align:right;color:rgb(144,144,144);margin-bottom:3px">
Noah Friedman-Rudovsky for The New York Times</div><p itemprop="description" class="" style="margin:0px;font-size:1.1em;line-height:1.2727em;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(102,102,102)">The group Invidente plays typical Guaraní music on a Guaraní-language television show. The language is spoken by an estimated 90 percent of Paraguayans.</p>
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By <a rel="author" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/simon_romero/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by Simon Romero" class="" style="color:rgb(102,102,153);text-decoration:none">SIMON ROMERO</a></h6>
</span><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:georgia,'times new roman',times,serif;font-size:10px;line-height:15px"></span><h6 class="" style="margin:0px;color:rgb(128,128,128);font-size:1em;line-height:1.2em;font-weight:normal;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
Published: March 12, 2012</h6><h6 class="" style="margin:0px;color:rgb(128,128,128);font-size:1em;line-height:1.2em;font-weight:normal;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></h6></div><font face="times new roman, serif" size="4">ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — Legislators on the floor of Congress deliver speeches in it. Lovers entwined on Asunción’s park benches murmur sweet nothings with its high-pitched, nasal and guttural sounds. Soccer fans use it when insulting referees.<br>
<br>To this day, Paraguay remains the only country in the Americas where a majority of the population speaks one indigenous language: Guaraní. It is enshrined in the Constitution, officially giving it equal footing with the language of European conquest, Spanish. And in the streets, it is a source of national pride.<br>
<br>“Only 54 of nearly 12,000 schools teach Portuguese,” said Nancy Benítez, director of curriculum at the Ministry of Education, of the language of Brazil, the giant neighbor that dominates trade with Paraguay. “But every one of our schools teaches Guaraní.”<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;display:inline">
​</div></font><div><br></div><div>Access full article below: <br><font face="times new roman, serif" size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:georgia,serif;font-size:large;display:inline">​</div></font><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/world/americas/in-paraguay-indigenous-language-with-unique-staying-power.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/world/americas/in-paraguay-indigenous-language-with-unique-staying-power.html</a><div>
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