“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going”.
Rita Mae Brown (American writer)
Have you ever felt that moment before starting a trip? In those moments you may have already started travelling with your mind. And then, when you just land in the country you travel to and start hearing different languages you automatically move into others cultures.
We would like you to make a language trip through two interesting websites: The World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) and the UNESCO’s Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.
Bon voyage!
The World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS) This site provides 142 free maps displaying on average 400 languages from all over the world showing you the geographical distribution of the most important patterns of sounds, word structure and sentence structure and data on over 2.500 languages.
UNESCO’s Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger If we lose a language we also lose a culture. According to UNESCO half of 6.000 languages spoken today will disappear by the end of this century. This atlas offers the possibility to admire the world’s linguistic diversity and be aware of how many languages are in danger of disappearing.
