here in the uk we have welsh, scots, gallic, irish gaelic, generally in good health but why is it some languages die out while others thrive and survive? it depends on the resources and the energy that people put into their languages. so welsh has a long literary tradition going back to the sixth century so there is a lot of material to draw from. and it was in decline for many centuries, actually, until at the end of the 20th century, people really started making moves to preserve it and bring it back through legal reforms, educational reforms. and you have a huge community of people who identify with their welsh heritage. so there is a big push to bring it back and now welsh is flourishing which is great. but that is not the case for all minority languages. it is not the case for all indigenous languages who lack the resources and the community support and the governmental