Oldest Speakers of the Czech Language in Buenos Aies. Preservation and Intergenerational Transmission of the Language of Ancestors
Abstract
Based on analysis reviewing a database that contains transcrips totalling nearly 350 pages from about 40 hours of biographical recordings from members of the oldest generations of ethnic Czechs in Argentina. The condensed, and summarized text examines the issues of heritage language acquisition, maintenance, and possible attrition.
The article focuses on the environment and situations in which the descendants of Czechoslovaks had the opportunity to maintain contact with the Czech language, and what importance the national institutions, such as ethnic Czech organizations, minority schools, etc., had in preserving the language at an individual level. Heritage speakers, whose families have lived approximately 80-110 years outside the Czech lands, reflect on how, and under what conditions, they and their ancestors managed to transmit the Czech language to subsequent generations.