Although Hezhen has been an endangered language, its endangering cause, way and process are seldom related in articles.
The critically endangered language belongs to the Tupi language family. As of 2007, there was only one remaining speaker.
Five hotspots where languages are most endangered were listed Tuesday in a briefing by the Living Tongues Institute for endangered languages and the National Geographic Society.
Many endangered languages have rich oral cultures with stories, songs, and histories passed on to younger generations, but no written forms.
With a scientific team from National Geographic, we are visiting the hotspots to take the pulse of some of the world's most endangered languages.