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How students and teachers are using iPad to save an endangered language

There are nearly half a million Cherokee people around the world, but less than 0.5% of them speak their language natively, prompting educators to turn to iPad and Mac to help preserve the language.

Teen with short hair and glasses works at a tablet in front of a green screen, wearing headphones and a graphic T-shirt, with a blue microphone on the desk
A Cherokee Immersion School student uses iMovie to add narration to a story in Keynote | Image credit: Apple

Language is a living thing, and as such, it depends on speakers to not only keep it alive but also ensure its future survival. Some languages, especially those spoken by Indigenous Americans, are in danger of extinction.

Today, there are fewer than 1,500 fluent Cherokee language speakers. Among the world’s 480,000 Cherokee people, only 0.31% speak the language fluently.

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