Report on Endangered Indigenous Languages in Partner Countries and Mobile Learning Solutions: IndyLan Project

It is widely recognised that language diversity plays a paramount role in sustaining cultural diversity among people and communities. The ongoing disappearance of a large number of languages, which are mostly indigenous languages, is posing a threat to cultural diversity and sustainable development globally. Against this backdrop, the IndyLan project (Mobile Virtual Learning for Indigenous Languages) is developing a mobile application to help users learn the following six European indigenous and endangered languages with the ultimate aim to promote their use and enhance their survival:

- Basque (Euskera)
- Cornish (Kernewek)
- Gaelic (Gàidhlig)
- Galician (Gallego)
- Scots
- Sámi (Northern) (Davvisámegiella)

The project is funded by the EU for 26 months, with partners in the UK (Scotland and Cornwall), Finland, Norway and Spain. It is led by Heriot-Watt University.

This report provides an overview of endangered languages in the partner countries (UK, Finland, Norway, Spain) and a review of mobile and other virtual learning tools for learning and promoting these languages. The report starts with an overview of the endangered languages in Europe, and the current EU policies concerning indigenous and minority languages. Next, it provides some figures and statistics regarding the above six indigenous and endangered languages, which are part of the IndyLan app (Basque, Cornish, Gaelic, Galician, Scots and Sámi), in the partner countries (UK, Spain, Finland, Norway). Finally, it reviews mobile learning solutions and online resources available for these endangered languages in partner countries (for Android, iOS, and Windows platforms).