Language of the Month

Pipil is the only indigenous language spoken in El Salvador and is classified by UNSECO as a critically endangered language.

After 19 long months of being stuck in domestic travel, I was finally able to make it abroad last week. While I will not share my mother’s maiden name here, I can assure you the “ski” at the end of her name makes it abundantly clear that on my mother’s side I am nearly entirely

If you are following us on social media, you have seen that during my travels I do as much as possible to document indigenous languages throughout the world. While in some places information is scarce, I have noticed that a large number of history, cultural, and even science museums in the US are making an effort

Earlier this month, a fellow member of the Museum team (Linda, our excellent artist for the Philogelos jokes project) shared an article with me about a metal band. While this may seem a bit odd to share between colleagues, this particular band is raising awareness of the importance of the Amazon and its people in

I have made it relatively clear in the past that besides languages and traveling my main hobby is video games. (see these articles for how games have actually shaped my language learning!) Recently, one of my favorite series, Resident Evil, released the 8th game in the main series, and although it was fairly obviously the

When many of us think of the National Parks, the Grand Canyon almost immediately comes to mind. Although not the most visited of the parks – that honor goes to the Great Smoky Mountains – the Grand Canyon stirs images of pioneers, adventure, and a uniquely American road trip. However, on the western rim of

Throughout the pandemic, we have heard various news stories about languages and either their sad declines or their great revivals. From South American to Australia, all around the globe, language preservation has come to the forefront of linguists’ minds. With an accelerated decline in indigenous languages, they are wondering what can be done to start

If you are a frequent reader of the blog, particularly Language of the Month, it is probably apparent that I am a frequent traveler, especially to the National Parks or other NPS units. Even during COVID, they provide a great opportunity to still leave the house, but in a safe, socially distant way that also

As most of our readers know, UNESCO declared 2019 the Year of Indigenous Languages, and later on has declared the 2022-2032 will be the Decade of Indigenous Languages. This initiative will promote language preservation and awareness, and it has certainly had an impact on me. Since 2019, I have made it a goal of mine