There are 190 languages in Brazil that may disappear or are already extinct, according to UNESCO’s Atlas of Languages in Danger. Once the languages are gone, the culture and knowledge of the indigenous people who speak them are also lost. Brazil has close to 220 groups of indigenous people.

The majority of these languages are from the Amazon region, but they can also be found in other regions of Brazil. In Rio Grande do Sul state, for example, the Mbya Guarani language has 6000 speakers. In Espírito Santo state, close to 10 people speak Krenak.

The Atlas features an interactive map that shows where each language is spoken, the number of speakers, and how endangered it is. In total, there are 97 languages in the “vulnerable” category, 17 in “definitely endangered”, 19 in “severely endangered”, 45 in “critically endangered”, and 12 that are “extinct”. According to UNESCO, 2464 languages are at risk of disappearing from the world. Brazil is the country with the second highest number of endangered languages, right behind the United States.

QUESTIONS – level 3

1) Regarding the languages that are in danger of extinction, it would be wrong to state that:

a) There are indigenous people who still speak their mother tongue in Brazil.

b) The “critically endangered” category is more serious than the “severely endangered”.

c) According to the text, in the United States, the languages in danger of extinction do not have indigenous origins.

d) There are indigenous languages with more than 5000 speakers.

2) What is the connection between the extinction of a language and that of a culture?