Documentary

The documentary Linguists is one that shined a light on the importance of language in the world we live in today. In this documentary, two men by the names David Harrison and Gregory Anderson journey through remote and rugged lands in hopes to reach isolated communities and villages and hear their rare endangered languages. 

They first went to Siberia in search for the Chulym language. A language on the birk of extinction with only a handful of very elderly men and women that can speak it. As the men try to record as much of the language as they can, they start to learn why the language started to disappear in the first place. We can see the hate that Chulym gets in boarding schools, where most tribal children go. They are forced to speak Russian and are bullied and punished if they speak their own languages in school.  Once the younger generation chooses to not speak a tongue, once they decide not to learn it, and go through with their decision, the language may as well be extinct. 

The two men then went to India, where the majority of tribal students (Sora Speaking) attended boarding school miles away from their home. There they learned Hindi and English. Why did they learn English and not focus on their own national language like for Chulym? Economical Power. English gives people the ability to work and be successful within the world's economy. In addition to learning English, these tribal kids are taught the uselessness of their mother tongue. Slowly, the children stop speaking Sora and the same story with Chulym repeat again. A language which they see as unhelpful especially in poverty-stricken villages. "The linguists witness the fear and poverty that has driven the youth away from their native language and communities." 

The two example above follow the Theme V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions. “Languages become endangered when speakers are forced or encouraged to abandon their language.”Chulym and the tribal languages of India are seen as useless for the modern world which is why they are being forgotten by the younger generation who are seeking to be successful within the modern world. 

Lastly, in Bolivia, the Kallawaya language is another one of the many endangered languages. Kallawaya has survived being endangered for many years with fewer than a hundred speakers. David and Gregory go up mountains in search for the last few speakers. In the instance for Kallawaya, the loss of the league will result in the lass of knowledge. Bolivia is a South American country bordering Brazil. Brazil, which is home to the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon rainforest home to millions of species of plants and animals that are all not known to the western world yet. However, these Kallawaya speakers have specialized in medicinal treatments using herbs. They know about different and unique plants that have healing properties that western science has not discovered yet. With the death of the Kallaway speakers and no one to pass the knowledge down, the knowledge will be lost along with the Kallawaya language and their speakers.