Good news is nice, for a change.Like many Alaska Natives who came of age in earlier generations, MacLean was punished in school for speaking her language, she said. "I yelled something in Inupiaq at the girl in front of me, and (my third-grade teacher) came over and pulled my ear."
Today the ability to speak indigenous languages is a prized skill...
Arlington, Va., based Rosetta Stone sells computer software that teaches more than 30 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese, by showing people pictures, giving examples of proper speech and rating users on their pronunciation. Like an immersion school, you see and hear only the language you're learning.
American Indian groups looking to revive their languages began approaching the company for help in 1999. By 2004, Rosetta Stone had set up an endangered-language program to partner with Native groups around the world, said Marion Bittinger, manager of the program.
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