Across Africa and the diaspora, young people are increasingly reconnecting with indigenous languages.
An Associated Press report highlights a growing movement involving online language classes, television programmes and digital education designed to help younger Africans learn languages that were once marginalised by colonial languages.
In Nigeria, television initiatives are helping promote Yoruba language learning, while entrepreneurs elsewhere in Africa are using digital platforms to teach languages such as Shona.
Why this is bigger than language
Language carries:
- History
- Proverbs
- Identity
- Oral traditions
- Family memory
- Music
- Philosophy
When a language disappears, much more than vocabulary can disappear with it.
The digital opportunity
Artificial intelligence, social media and online education could help African languages reach audiences that previous generations could not.
Culture Desk: The future of African languages may not be in choosing between tradition and technology.
It may be in using technology to protect tradition.
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