Hip-hop, texting may help save world's languages (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Monday, Jun. 27, 2011

Hip-hop, texting may help save world's languages

Tim Johnson - McClatchy Newspapers

MEXICO CITY — In southern Chile, young speakers of Huilliche, a
language that's in peril of extinction, produce hip-hop videos and
post them on the Internet.
Across the globe in the Philippines, teenagers think it's "cool" to
send mobile phone text messages in regional languages that show signs
of endangerment, such as Kapampangan.

Technology, long considered a threat to regional languages, now is
being seen as a way to keep young people from forsaking their native
tongues for dominant languages. YouTube and Facebook, as well as
Internet radio and cell phone texting, are helping minority language
groups stave off death.

Access full article below:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/06/27/2078207/hip-hop-texting-may-help-save.html