In this talk, we discuss language extinction and language revival, noting the overwhelming number of languages that are endangered. We highlight several language revitalization efforts, noting the most successful (Hebrew), and those that are struggling. Then we present the Manx language as a modern language revitalization success story. We look at the history of the language, why it declined, and how it has been revived. We then discuss interesting features of Manx and play a game with Manx-English cognates. Finally, we propose that you consider learning an endangered language to help support language preservation efforts, and suggest things to consider if you choose to do so.

Jeffrey Micher is a linguist and avid language learner / polyglot, with an MA in Linguistics (University of Pittsburgh) and an MS in Language Technologies (Carnegie Mellon University). He has taught ESL in the US and in France, and French in the US. He has worked in the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication, developing computer interfaces for assistive language technology in multiple languages, and he has done research in Applied Linguistics and Machine Translation. His languages are English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Slovak, and Manx, with little bits of many, many others.

This video was recorded at the Polyglot Gathering 2023 (https://www.polyglotgathering.com).