Many Californians Working to Revitalize Native Languages

By some measures, California is one of the most linguistically diverse places on Earth—but unless certain steps are taken, that could change.

“Estimates as to how many indigenous languages were spoken here before contact range from 80 to 100,” says the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival (AICLS) website. “There are 50 indigenous languages that still have one or more native speakers, though these numbers are dwindling fast. There are also at least 30 languages with no native speakers left with descendants who desperately want to regain their languages.”

AICLS, a nonprofit founded in 1992, is one of a number of groups working to revitalize languages in the Golden State.