Can the digital age save the Cherokee language? The halls of Facebook, Google and texting
Written by Becky JohnsonSusan Gathers was kicked back in the student union one afternoon, her thumbs poised over her smart phone, simultaneously bantering with friends while texting — sometimes even texting the same person she was talking to.This impressive skill to seamlessly dialogue in multiple mediums at once is nothing new for “Generation Next-ers” like Gathers. But unlike the typical truncated words and vowel-less abbreviations that permeate normal text-speak, her screen was filled with Cherokee syllables as she pushed send. “What is … wait … oh, I get it. Ha-ha-ha-ha,” Venice Mason laughed from across the table after sorting out the Cherokee message Gathers sent her.A mobile app that makes texting in the Cherokee language possible has become indispensible for Western Carolina University students majoring in Cherokee studies.“I want to be fluent,” said Gather, a 23-year-old senior. “This is helping me reach that goal.”Access full article below:http://www.smokymountainnews.com/news/item/9653-can-the-digital-age-save-the-cherokee-language?-the-halls-of-facebook-google-and-texting