Languages are the primary means of communication of humans, and can be conveyed through speech, sign, or writing.

Do you know that 7151 languages are spoken in the world today?

Of the more than 7,000 different languages in use around the world today, just 23 languages account for more than half the world's population.

While India has 22 separate official languages , it is home to a total of 121 languages and 270 mother tongues.

41% of the 7000+ world languages are endangered. Currently, there are 573 known extinct languages.

An endangered language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a dead language.

A recent UNESCO report indicates that India has the largest number of endangered languages in the world.

Pratham has launched the HearSay portal as an effort to save some of the less spoken or disappearing Indian languages from extinction.

The aim is to create a repository of words, phrases, idioms and proverbs from different languages with their meanings and pronunciation, accessible to those who wish to learn the language. The portal is an open-source platform and will be open to contributions from viewers so as to enrich the available content.

The HearSay portal has been launched with the Konkani (Amchigali) language. Konkani is one of the official Indian languages and is spoken by close to 13 million people worldwide. In India, it is spoken in western Maharashtra and Gujarat, Goa and some coastal parts of Karnataka. There are many versions of the language spoken by different groups of people. Although these versions may sound similar to most non-speakers of the language but those who speak Konkani can immediately identify its origins from the cadence and inflection in the voice. Amchigele (meaning our language) is said to have originated in Goa and spread by the people who fled Goa to escape the Portuguese Inquisition.