Bringing Our Languages Home: Language Revitalization for Families

Throughout the world, individuals in the intimacy of their homes innovate, improvise, and struggle daily to pass on endangered languages to their children. Elaina Albers of Northern California holds a tape player to her womb so her baby can hear old songs in Karuk. The Baldwin family of Montana put labels all over their house marked with the Miami words for common objects and activities, to keep the vocabulary present and fresh. In Belfast, three generations of the Mac Póilin family cluster together in a neighborhood of ''Irish houses'' that strive for bilingual fluency through community education and daily immersion. Thirteen autobiographical accounts of language revitalization, ranging from Scottish Gaelic to Mohawk, Yuchi to Maori, are brought together by Leanne Hinton, professor emerita of linguistics at UC Berkeley, who for decades has been leading efforts to preserve the rich linguistic heritage of the world. Languages featured: Anishinaabemowin, Hawaiian, Irish, Karuk, Kawaiisu, Kypriaka, Maori, Miami, Mohawk, Scottish Gaelic, Wampanoag, Warlpiri, Yuchi