{"product_id":"how-to-kill-a-language-power-resistance-and-the-race-to-save-our-words","title":"How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Fascinating . . . [Smith] Galer casts a bright light on the massive linguistic diversity that the world seems set to lose.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Punchy and persuasive . . . [with] many moments of linguistic joy.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Times \u003c\/i\u003e(UK)\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"[A] moving, beautiful and important book . . . The narrative grips from the outset. . . . The story she tells is profound and often tragic.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eHow to Kill a Language\u003c\/i\u003e paints a vivid, hopeful portrait of how people around the world are staying connected to their linguistic roots against the odds. Sophia Smith Galer deftly balances the human detail with the bigger linguistic picture. Marvelously done.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Gretchen McCulloch, author of \u003ci\u003eBecause Internet\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A rallying cry against linguistic extinction . . . This is a necessary book, with a message that English speakers need to hear.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New Statesman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Sophia Smith Galer shines an intimate light on a pressing issue. \n\u003ci\u003eHow to Kill a Language\u003c\/i\u003e tours the world with a personal touch, revealing the powerfully human stakes behind language death and revitalization.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Adam Aleksic, author of \u003ci\u003eAlgospeak\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Urgent and timely . . . \n\u003ci\u003eHow to Kill a Language \u003c\/i\u003ecould easily have become a counsel of despair. Instead, despite its clear-sighted views on the outlook for many languages, what animates it above all is the curiosity and pleasure of language learning--a curiosity that is its own form of hope.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An extremely moving, passionate plea to protect linguistic diversity. A language is more than a dictionary or a system of grammar: It is an archive, a culture, a symbol, and a mode of being. Sophia Smith Galer's fascinating book digs down into what it really means to translate, document, conserve, comprehend, and colonize.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Cal Flyn, author of \u003ci\u003eIslands of Abandonment\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\" \n\u003ci\u003eHow to Kill a Language\u003c\/i\u003e hits the intersection of language and power as few other books have, with vivid reporting of how 'linguicide's broad scythe' is cutting through communities worldwide.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Ross Perlin, author of \u003ci\u003eLanguage City\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A love letter to languages. These ten stories locate their languages in a context of personal heritage, identity, and culture in a way that is both intellectually rigorous and yet profoundly moving.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--David Crystal, author of \u003ci\u003eHow Language Works\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Beautiful, thought-provoking, and compelling.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--Susie Dent, author of \u003ci\u003eGuilty by Definition\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\"How to Kill a Language\u003c\/i\u003e both demystifies and sharply contextualizes linguicide by providing not only the reasons why languages die but also the stories of the speakers and communities whose languages are lost. I'm so glad this book exists: Language preservation and revitalization are causes sorely in need of a champion.\" \n\u003cb\u003e--David Peterson, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Language Invention \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Essential . . . A relevant, necessary call to action.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A sobering, urgent call for action to save a thousand tongues while we can.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Kirkus Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Heart-wrenching . . . a spirited reconsideration of language as a natural resource that must be protected.\" \n\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e--Publishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eSophia Smith Galer\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning journalist who has reported for the BBC and \n\u003ci\u003eVICE News\u003c\/i\u003e around the world. She studied Spanish and Arabic at Durham University, and in 2022 \n\u003ci\u003eBritish Vogue\u003c\/i\u003e selected her as one of the 25 most influential women in the UK.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eAn urgent, globe-spanning exploration of languages at risk, from Kichwa to Ukrainian, that asks: What do we lose--culturally, politically, and personally--when a language is silenced?\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\"A vivid, hopeful portrait of how people around the world are staying connected to their linguistic roots.\"--Gretchen McCulloch, author of \u003ci\u003eBecause Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLanguages can be killed in many ways: war, the climate crisis, nationalism, and even quiet choices made at the dinner table. Around the world, an unprecedented shift is drawing speakers toward national and global lingua francas. For some, that means losing the language of parents or grandparents; for many, it is a permanent farewell to systems that carry knowledge, culture, and belonging. With half of our 7,000 languages due to disappear this century, linguicide is one of the most pressing cultural emergencies of our age. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \n\u003ci\u003eHow to Kill a Language\u003c\/i\u003e, journalist Sophia Smith Galer travels across continents and generations to chart this phenomenon. In Ecuador, she sees firsthand how shame deters parents from passing Kichwa onto their children. In Oman, she learns about languages with roots older than Arabic but never officially recognized. And in Italy, she searches for her Nonna's dialët, which is vanishing from diaspora communities and Italy itself. But languages can also be reclaimed: We meet the Karuk tribe of California, pioneering a grassroots language immersion program, and the storytellers challenging the criminalization of Kurdish. And in her discussion of Hebrew, Smith Galer reckons with the unintended consequences of raising a language seemingly from the grave. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePart investigation, part travelogue from a disappearing world, \n\u003ci\u003eHow to Kill a Language\u003c\/i\u003e exposes the true costs of this mass extinction event. Brought to life by vivid storytelling and Smith Galer's own experience with language loss, it's a fierce rallying cry for a multilingual future.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/15\/2026 (EAN 9798217086979, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 05\/11\/2026 (EAN 9798217086979, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/01\/2026 pg. 90 (EAN 9798217086979, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Crown Publishing Group (NY)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496251949334,"sku":"9798217086979","price":39.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9798217086979.jpg?v=1783058310","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/how-to-kill-a-language-power-resistance-and-the-race-to-save-our-words","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}