Can we save the world’s 1 languages The Hadza community lives in Tanzania. Their language—Hadza—is unique. However the language may not be 2 for long. There are now fewer than 1,000 Hadza 3 . The number will continue to 4 and their sing-song tongue, 5 with clicks and glottal stops, is no longer being learned by all Hadza children. The language is in danger of being 6 . The Hadza are not alone in facing the loss of their 7 tongue. Every 8 days a language dies. Over half of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken on the planet may 9 by the end of the 20th century. Eighty percent of the 10 languages have no 11 form. 12 the last speaker dies, so does the language. But eighty percent of the world’s population now speak just 13 of its languages. So, will the languages on the 14 be reduced to a 15 of tongues Not if some people have their way, who are fighting back to 16 rarer tongues successfully. Perhaps the most successful example is 17 , which was dead two centuries ago but is a living language now. Other languages have also been brought back from the brink of 18 through the sheer will and determination of their communities. Language preservation works best when the language, culture and 19 of minority-speaker communities are 20 by national governments.