Silbo Gomero is basically a linguistic fossil now though. It’s taught as a kind of cultural history lesson and it’s performed in restaurants as a show for tourists. It may never completely die out, but it’s on its last legs.

I personally think that the preservation of languages is both important and interesting. On the other hand, if Spanish is easier to learn, more common and therefore more useful it’s no wonder the language is dying out. I guess it’s like classic cars, they’re inefficient, expensive to run and cost a bomb to maintain but they look awesome. So we’ll never see our roads filled with classic cars, but it’s good to know someone, somewhere is lovingly tinkering under the hood to keep at least one of them alive.

☛ Now: Most Brutal Female Pirates Of All Time #1