Inp.polri.go.id – Jakarta. The Education, Research, and Technology Ministry identified and validated 718 vernaculars adn 778 dialects in Indonesia. "Right now, Indonesia has 718 vernaculars," says the Secretary of Language Development and Cultivation Agency, Hafidz Muksin on Friday (3/8/2024). Hafidz said that vernaculars in Indonesia who have been identified and validated are 718 languages, 778 dialects, 43 sub-dialects and 248 cultural dictionary from 2,560 regions observed across Indonesia. However, Hafidz are still saddened with the situation the Indonesian vernaculars in, saying: "The traditional language of Indonesian is saddening as we just have lost 11 of them," said Hafidz. According to him, the extinction of the traditional language is because of the current generation are unable to inherit them from their elders. "The extinction of the traditional language is also caused by cross mariage. For example a marriage of Medanese and Javanese. In those marriage, instead of able speaking Medanese and Javanese, their children often times could not speak any of those languages," explained Hafidz. Furthermore, the extinction of the traditional language is also caused by continuous advancement of globalization which poses as a real threat. Hafidz assessed that the current generation prefer to learn international languages, such as English, Mandarin, Japanese, or others, rather than learning their parents root language. "Now in kindergarten, kids are taught english rather than traditional languages where their mother tounge should have been prioritised for preservation," said Hafidz. (ndt/pr/nm)