Helping new generation preserve old language

Chu Yongming, a Tujia ethnic group language teacher, talks with students in Tujia dialect in Baifusi primary school in Laifeng county, Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture in Central China's Hubei province, Oct 20, 2011. Chu, 58, is Enshi's only teacher of Tujian language that is on the verge of extinction, as only some Tujia ethnic people older than 70 years old can proficiently use the language to communicate with others and the rest Tujia people are limited to some simple daily commonly used words. To preserve and pass on the Tujia language, Chu has started to compile language since the end of 1980s. He has travelled more than 10,000 kilometers, gone to each Tujia ethinc group and visited more than 100 elders across the Hubei and Hunan provinces and Chongqing municipality. After collecting a lot of information, Chu compiled an easy textbook of Tujia language in 1995 and the textbooks for each grade students in primary schools. Chu has collected over 8,000 phrases of Tujian language. Now he is working to compile a dictionary of Tujia language.[Photo/Xinhua]

Students pose with their different Tujia language textbooks compiled by Chu Yongming in Baifusi primary school in Laifeng county, Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture in Central China's Hubei province, Oct 20, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]