source : Freepik
Time is not on the side of many languages. Several experts claim that one local language disappears per month. According to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 40 percent of the world's approximately 6,700 languages are threatened with extinction.
This is the flow that the UN wants to stem by declaring 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL). Through various initiatives, this world institution promotes and protects native languages, including improving the standard of living of their speakers.
However, the UN is not the only agency committed to protecting languages. Long before IYIL was launched, similar efforts had been launched by many parties, for example, BASAbali, one of the most respected language defenders from Indonesia.
BASAbali consists of dozens of figures and volunteers. Apart from language experts and anthropologists, there are photographer Rio Helmi and cultural expert Agung Rai. Since 2011, they have been working on various projects, including developing a Balinese language Wiki and TTS dictionary. One phenomenal project is Google in Balinese. Through partnerships with several institutions, they have placed Balinese as the language option for Google.co.id. (The box “I’m Feeling Lucky” translates to “Tiang Sedek Aget.”)
Not only via the internet, BASAbali has entered the field. Through the Middle Schools Project, they distributed language learning software to 13 junior high schools in Denpasar. The project was triggered by the fact that more and more teenagers do not master the language of their ancestors. Alissa J. Stern, BASAbali motorbike, shared her staff's experience visiting a school in Denpasar. When asked about the importance of speaking Balinese, all students responded "important," but in Indonesian. The staff then asked students to answer in Balinese, and only a handful could do so.
Amid an increasingly cosmopolitan Bali, BASAbali wants to ensure that local languages, as well as the knowledge systems they contain, continue to be sustainable. Last year, their efforts were recognized worldwide. BASAbali is the first Indonesian organization to be awarded the International Linguapax Award, a kind of Oscar in the field of linguistics.