Africa’s mother tongues are finding new life as youth connect with roots and relatives

A television game show in Nigeria's commercial hub of Lagos enforces a strict rule: speak English or lose. A U.S.-born millennial in the audience and a Zimbabwean student find this high-stakes environment to be an ideal classroom. Nyashadzashe Machingura, a 15-year-old Canadian, speaks to a teacher about 13,000 kilometers away in Zimbabwe, learning Shona, her parents' mother tongue.

This illustrates a new generation of interest and entrepreneurship around African languages that were once overlooked. In Africa, there are between 1,500 and 3,000 languages spoken by roughly a third of the world's population. Experts attribute the revival of these languages to diaspora Africans who can easily reconnect with their roots and communicate with their elders through social media, online learning, and entertainment.

One such success story is Shungu Chidovi, a Zimbabwe-based tutor who quit her banking career to launch ZimbOriginal, an online platform teaching Shona through storytelling, book clubs, and "buddy pairing" exchanges. Despite facing challenges, such as limited data for training AI systems, the momentum for change is growing. The African Union, the United Nations, and UNESCO are all working to revive African languages, recognizing their importance for cultural connection and economic development.