Questions about language and cultural context (2)

Should minority languages be saved from extinction?

The answer to this question is up to the language--is it too old to be used, or is it too inefficient to be used? If so, I would say we don't need to save them from extinction because there will be a better substitute to take place, a modern language that can convey more information through conversations. 

However, if the minority language is still popular among people and people can commonly accept and be willing to speak so, we can't let it die--I mean the government's policy of not speaking it. It's widely known that each province in China has its own dialect, which is quite different from Mandarin, as well as other dialects. When I entered elementary school in First Grade, it's the time when Chinese government is carrying out the policy of "Popularize Mandarin", so schools made Mandarin as the only formal language that everybody must speak Mandarin at school, no dialects. Under the circumstances, I only talk with people in Wuhan dialect after school and at home. However, when I moved to Shanghai in 2nd Grade, schools here had the same policy and I was forced to speak Mandarin everywhere since Shanghainese didn't understand Wuhan dialect; gradually, I became unacquainted with my mother tongue, the dialect, and despite my Mom, who is always speaking Wuhan dialect, somehow I can still understand what she said but only respond her in Mandarin. Sometimes I think about those days and mocked myself not being a real Shanghainese even with a Shanghai registered residence booklet and a 9-year-long experience living in the city, because I can't even speak Shanghainese. If by the time I moved to Shanghai and picked up the new dialect at the age of 7, I'm confident that I should have spoken fluent Shanghainese. 

During this winter break, I happened to live at a home-stay whose hostess was from Shanghai several decades ago, but what she speaks, the really old and traditional Shanghainese, perhaps the really authentic one, makes me confused--my friends in Shanghai speak quite different from her version, though the same language. Yet I can understand the differences imply the transform of time and culture. But I feel pity for myself that I should have known 2 different dialects  instead of neither of them. Dialects embody the local cultures, especially in China. We have over 80 different dialects that are incomprehensible among themselves, and each one of them originates from a distinctive background and cultural support, carrying the message of its exceptional heritage. Nevertheless, the new statistics show many of the dialects are disappearing by few speakers, not meaning they are useless. But just like Shanghai, for instance, few people master the ability over the authentic Shanghaiese as more and more foreign people moving into the city and bringing the culture-shock. Many people raise the awareness of saving their dialect from extinction--a way to protect their roots.