(d)/
You have probably heard of endangered animals such
as orangutans and elephants. However, not only animals
but also many languages are at risk of extinction.
2 Today 6,000 to 7,000 languages exist in the world.
UNESCO estimates that half of them are spoken by fewer
than 6,000 people-and those languages might disappear
within 100 years. That means two or three languages
become extinct every month.
3 Why is this happening? Young people prefer using a
majority language, which enables them to communicate
with more people and enjoy more career opportunities.
As a result, English has come to be widely used across
the world, and parents are not always willing to teach
their mother tongue to their children. Thus, minority
languages are now dying with the older generation.
4 Languages are a part of the world's cultural heritage.
Once we lose a language, we can never retrieve it. We
can never appreciate the wisdom that was conveyed in the
lost language.
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