It's Important

Languages are more then a means of communication. Languages contain a wealth of information and a unique way of interpreting and looking a the world. When a language is lost we loose a piece of human history. Much of that cultures customs, ideas, history, perspective and values can be lost.

This is tragic because the culture, their knowledge (which could prove itself valuable to the rest of the world) and the ability to use that language to help understand similar languages have all been lost. In a sense the trials and tribulations of that culture have been in vain, as if they never walked the earth. I think its extremely important that these languages be kept alive for the sake of culture, history and better understanding the story of homo sapiens. The diversity of the human race is one of our best qualities and globalization makes those differences harder and harder to maintain.

Here is an interesting interview with renowned linguist Noam Chomsky discussing his theories on linguistics, mainly humans innate ability to piece together language.