I’ve started taking introductory Japanese language lessons, and the first day after class I asked out sensei if she knew anything about the Ainu language. I already knew she wouldn’t, but the question was a way to introduce the topic. She said she didn’t know very much about them, but she had listened to a podcast about the language, which she shared with me. http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-25/japan-ainu-language-largely-unknown-and-unloved-linguists-are-fascinated-it
The podcast itself is pretty pessimistic about the outlook of the language, and even about bothering to learn it in the first place. The presenter asks, “what’s the point?” given that so few other people can speak it. I was a little surprised that this was recorded so recently, May 2016, given that there has been a lot more effort to revitalize the language than he suggests here. But some of the individual families who are trying to teach their children say that they feel it’s an isolating uphill battle as well.
This is pretty much exactly why I want to participate in creating a digital Ainu presence, or at least a more visible one. The only English language one, as far as I know. People may be physically isolated, but they’re not alone, and in spite of the myth of a dying race, perpetuated since the Ainu homeland was first invaded, we’re still here.
