13"Many of the world's lesser-known languages are being lost as fewer and fewer people speak them. The governments of countries in which these languages are spoken should act to prevent such languages from becoming extinct." Essay

Many linguists predict that by the year 2100, only half of the languages we use today will still be spoken, which hints that one language dies out every 12 days. This statistics alarm us that it will be too late for us to take measures if we do not pay attention to this issue right now. In my point of view, it is high time the government took measures to keep the lesser-known languages from extinction since the significant role a language plays.
A language, no matter how many people speak, is the cultural and linguistic heritage derived from our ancestors. Entire histories may be lost if its oral tradition die, which means a wealth of the sounds, rhythms, and poetry that made the language unique may be gone forever. The Khoisan languages of southern Africa, for instance, is the only languages that use clicks as everyday speech sounds. Such sounds are used for showing disapproval in English—the tsk tsk sound—but they are not a part of the language. This unique form of speech could disappear forever if the few existing languages that use clicks vanish.
Having an insights into all the aspects which may result in the language’s extinction,   we may find that government seems to be a crucial one. In many cases, government policies would contribute to the decline or death of many minority languages by restricting their use. For example, the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries often took children away from their Native American parents and sent them to boarding schools, where they were forced to learn English. Children from different tribes were typically grouped together so English would be their only common language. Only about half of the 300 indigenous languages spoken in North America when the Europeans first arrived are still in use. Government, by implementing these policies, will save a lot of cost and benefits from easy-understanding among the people. However, great quantity of culture, art, and knowledge disappears with the language extinction,...