This recent article by Ben Blanchard at Reuters states:

This week the government launched a new project to develop a vocal database of all China’s dialects and languages, to assist with preservation efforts.

I’ve written to Ben to see if I can find out more. In the meantime, if anyone knows about this, please comment! [UPDATE: he did write back and I’ve updated the story on this post] The rest of the article is a depressing but familiar read about the societal and family pressures that are resulting in parents not speaking to their children in their own native language. While the article is about China it could as well be almost anywhere in the world. Continue…