Revitalising Indigenous Languages

Mahalo nui loa to the authors of this important book! Ancestral languages are crucial components of healthy indigenous communities. Yet once a language is lost among childbearing adults, it seems impossible to gain it back again. Developing a resource of fluent second language speaking adults is the answer. This work tells how to reach that crucial step - and with very small languages. E ola nā ʻōlelo ʻōiwi a kākou!

* Kauanoe Kamanā and William H. Wilson, founding members of the ʻAha Pūnana Leo, Hawaiʻi, USA *

This book is a wonder! - the uplifting story of a program that has made a very major difference in the revitalization of Aanaar Saami, through the empowerment of the Missing Generations of speakers - the adults who could, once they learn the language, teach or raise children in the endangered language. This account demonstrates how the vision and energy of a few can have a powerful effect on language and cultural survival. Three cheers for Marja-Liisa Olthuis and the brave women who worked with her! What a difference they have made. This is a must-read for all communities and their friends who are trying to revitalize their endangered languages. Leanne Hinton, Professor Emerita, University of California at Berkeley, USA

* Founding member of the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival *

Chock-full of on-the-ground experience, Olthuis, Kivelä and Skutnabb-Kangas present a research-based model for language revitalization among a critical age group: professional adults. Meticulously detailed, the book takes readers inside the Aanaar Saami language education program, introducing its strategies, management and the dedicated learners and master teachers at its heart. The authors' message is clear: yes, it is possible to recover a 'small' minoritized language! Recognizing that every community must chart its own way, the authors offer a practical, hopeful account with invaluable language revitalization lessons.

-- Teresa L. McCarty, G.F. Kneller Chair in Education and Anthropology, University of California-Los Angeles, USA

The authors describe the many obstacles faced by anyone interested in indigenous language revitalization, especially the lack of teaching materials, that need to be overcome and offer valuable insights on how this can be done.

-- Jon Reyhner, Northern Arizona University, USA to be published in the Magazine of the National Association for Bilingual Education

"Revitalising indigenous languages: How to recreate a lost generation" is a remarkable and inspirational book that chronicles the language revitalization efforts, triumphs, and tribulations of the Complementary Aanaar Saami Language Education (CASLE) program in Finland...It is an engaging book driven by the three authors’ personal experiences, dedication, andcommitment to Aanaar Saami. The book is well suited for language revitalization researchers, graduate students interested in the topic, and ITM community members alike.

* Genevieve Leung, University of San Francisco, USA in Current Issues in Language Planning (201