A child’s first word is a milestone built upon months or years of constant interactions with friends, family, and community. Even a consistent “hello” at the grocery store from beaming cashiers is the kind of interaction that fosters language development.
Preserving a language and the vast culture attached to it starts at a young age. This is especially critical for Indigenous languages, which face endangerment. The University of New Mexico’s Department of Linguistics and Lobo Language Acquisition Lab are launching a first-of-its-kind .