Question 2 of 21

About how many languages are spoken on Earth?

... The exact number isn't known, but most linguists estimate the number is between 6,700 and 7,000.

Question 3 of 21

How many of these existing languages are in danger of becoming extinct within 100 years?

... About half may be extinct by the dawn of the 22nd century.

Question 4 of 21

Which of the following factors is not a UNESCO-approved method of assessing language vitality?

... UNESCO linguists use nine methods to assess a language, but these don't include rating the spread of the language to other communities.

Question 5 of 21

How many languages were spoken in what is now the United States at the time of Columbus?

... About 115 of those 280 languages remain in use today.

Question 6 of 21

What is the best way to help preserve a language?

... Endangered languages can be preserved if conditions allow speakers to rely on the language and pass it on to their children. This often requires laws to protect the language and mandate its teaching in public schools.

Question 7 of 21

What is lost when a language dies?

... Languages carry the history of a people -- this can include knowledge of cultural, religious and medicinal practices.

Question 8 of 21

What has caused the demise of many languages?

... All of these events have contributed to language extinction. Languages die when speakers of a small language group come in contact with speakers of a larger group.

Question 9 of 21

What language is experiencing an upsurge after losing speakers over the past 80 years?

... About 30,000 people in Ireland are fluent in Gaelic, down from around 250,000 in 1922.

Question 10 of 21

The secret language of the Kallawaya of South America details knowledge about what?

... The secret language of medicinal plants has been passed from father to son for more than 400 years.

Question 11 of 21

What percentage of the world's languages have fewer than 100,000 speakers?

... The majority of the languages in the world have few speakers.

Question 12 of 21

The endangered language known as Koro is spoken in what country?

... The speakers of Koro are part of the Indian Aka tribe, though Koro sounds almost nothing like the Aka language.

Question 13 of 21

What is the most widely spoken language in the world?

... More than 800 million people speak Mandarin Chinese, making it the most common language in the world.

Question 14 of 21

The Ainu language probably has fewer than 100 speakers left. In which country do most speakers reside?

... In years past, members of the Ainu ethnic group were persecuted by the Japanese. Now, very few Ainu speakers survive in Japan.

Question 15 of 21

Which of the following languages was developed by servants under colonial rule in Africa?

... Namibian Black German was partially derived from the German of the former colonial rulers of the region.

Question 16 of 21

Which country has almost 300 living languages?

... As of 2009, China had more than 290 distinct languages, though many of these are endangered.

Question 17 of 21

This Germanic language was spoken by Jews in Central and Eastern Europe.

... Endangered in Europe, it is still heard in areas settled by immigrants, such as in some parts of New York City.

Question 18 of 21

What endangered tongue is said to be the closest language to English?

... About 500,000 people in the Netherlands speak Frisian, which is a close relative of English.

Question 19 of 21

Linguists from the Living Tongues Institute are compiling a talking dictionary of what Oregon Athabaskan language?

... The Siletz Dee-Ni language has words from several of the 27 tribes that were forced onto the Siletz Reservation in 1855.

Question 20 of 21

What city has been called "the capital of language density"?

... More than 800 languages, many of them endangered tongues, are spoken in New York City.

Question 21 of 21

According to the United Nations Atlas of Endangered Languages, in April 2010, this many languages had only one known speaker left.

... Some of these speakers may already have passed away, taking their languages with them.

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