Modern language

"Living language" redirects here. For the publisher, seeLiving Language.

Amodern languageis anyhuman languagethat is currently in use as anative language.The term is used inlanguage educationto distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such asFrenchandGerman) anddeadclassical languagessuch asLatinandClassical Chinese,which are studied for their cultural and linguistic value.SIL Ethnologuedefines aliving languageas "one that has at least one speaker for whom it is their first language" (see alsoLanguage § Linguistic diversity).

Teaching

This section is an excerpt fromLanguage education by region.[edit]

Practices inlanguage educationvary significantly by region. Firstly, the languages being learned differ; in theUnited States,Spanishis the most popular language to be learned, whereas the most popular languages to be learned inAustraliaareGerman,French,ItalianandMandarin Chinese.Also,teaching methodstend to differ by region.Language immersionis popular in some European countries, and not used very much in theUnited States.

Modern languages are taught extensively around the world; seesecond language acquisition.Englishis taught as asecondorforeign languagein many countries; seeEnglish language learning and teaching.

Auxiliary languages

International auxiliary languagesare by definition not associated with a particular country or geographic region.Esperantois probably the best-known and most widespread.Interlingua,a much less popular, but still growing auxiliary language, is likewise spoken mainly inNorthernandEastern Europeand inSouth America,with substantial numbers of speakers inCentral Europe,Ukraine,andRussia.Constructed languages from more recent years with sizable user communities areKlingon,Toki PonaandInterslavic.

See also

• Modern Language Association
• Endangered language
• List of languages by total number of speakers