languages. It is spoken in just two small coastal villages in Papua New Guinea.

　　Several years ago, David Hamson, a language expert, didn't know much about

　　Matukar Panau either. No one had ever recorded or even studied its words and rules. With

　　so few speakers, the language risked disappearing soon. It was endangered.

　　Hamson didn't want that to happen to Matukar Panau. So in 2009, he set out for Papua

　　New Guinea. His goal: use modern technology to help the remaining speakers preserve

　　their native tongue.

　　But Matukar Panau is far from the only language facing loss. Studies suggest that by

　　the end of this century, nearly half of the 7,000 languages now spoken worldwide could

　　disappear. They're in danger partly because the only people left speaking them are elderly

　　adults. When those individuals die, their language will die with them. In addition, children

　　may discard a native language and instead use more common global languages, such as

　　Chinese, English or Spanish.

　　In the United States alone, 134 native American languages are endangered. "language

　　hotspots" exist all over the world. These are places with endangered languages that haven't

　　been recorded. They include the state of Oklahoma, pockets of central and eastern Siberia,

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