{"id":188798,"date":"2015-11-30T13:37:15","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T21:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=188798"},"modified":"2016-03-30T15:19:13","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T22:19:13","slug":"struggling-to-preserve-fading-tibetan-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2015\/11\/struggling-to-preserve-fading-tibetan-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Struggling to Preserve “Fading” Tibetan Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times’ Edward Wong reports on the erosion of Tibetan language by official policy on one hand and economic pressures on the other<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis directly harms the culture of Tibetans,\u201d said Mr. Tashi, 30, a shopkeeper who is trying to file a lawsuit to compel the authorities to provide more Tibetan education. \u201cOur people\u2019s culture is fading and being wiped out.\u201d<\/p>\n

China has sharply scaled back, and restricted, the teaching of languages spoken by ethnic minorities in its vast western regions in recent years, promoting instruction in Chinese instead as part of a broad push to encourage the assimilation of Tibetans, Uighurs and other ethnic minorities into the dominant ethnic Han culture.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] In March 2012, a student in Gansu, Tsering Kyi, 20, set fire to herself and died after her high school changed its main language to Chinese, her relatives said. She is one of more than 140 Tibetans who since 2009 have self-immolated in political protest.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] But Tibetan attitudes are complicated by the practical reality of living in a country where the Chinese language is dominant, and where parents and children sometimes prefer English as a second language of education, not a minority language. Some Tibetan parents worry that their native language and culture are dying but nevertheless tell their children to prioritize Chinese studies, in part because the national university entrance exam is administered only in Chinese. [Source<\/strong><\/a>] <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

An accompanying video by Jonah Kessel records Tashi Wangchuk’s attempted legal challenge, and his fear that the goal of what “looks like development or help on the surface [\u2026] is to eliminate our culture.”<\/p>\n