Meet Simona Mayo, the host of @ActLenguas Twitter account for January 21-28, 2019

Simona Mayo.

In 2019, we are inviting different hosts to manage the @ActLenguas (Language Activism) Twitter account and to share their experiences with the revitalization and promotion of their native languages. This profile post is about Simona Mayo, and what she plans to discuss during her week as host.

Rising Voices (RV): Please tell us about yourself.

Soy Simona Mayo, Ngulumapu-Wallmapu (territorio Mapuche en Chile). Soy de la ciudad de Santiago de Chile y me dedico a la revitalización del mapudungun en espacios urbanos y a la investigación en relación a esta misma temática.

Simona Mayo (SM): My name is Simona Mayo, I am from Ngulumapu-Wallmapu (Mapuche territory in Chile). I live in Santiago de Chile and I am dedicated to the revitalization of the Mapudungun language in urban spaces and to research on this topic.

RV: What is the current status of your language on the internet and offline?

El mapudungun es una lengua vital que hoy está fortaleciéndose a través de la generación de nuevos hablantes en Chile y Argentina. Gran parte de los habantes son personas adultas y ancianas y se necesita hoy que los jóvenes adquieran el mapudungun como segunda lengua con el fin que esta perdure.

Su presencia en el internet ha crecido en los últimos cinco años gracias a diversas iniciativas que han buscado posicionarla en las redes, como lo ha sido el caso de Kimeltuwe.

SM: Mapudungun is a vital language that currently is being strengthened through a new generation of speakers in Chile and Argentina. Many of the speakers are adults and old people and it is necessary for young people to acquire Mapudungun as a second language so that it could survive.

The language presence on the Internet has grown in the last five years thanks to various initiatives that have sought to include it in the online networks, as it is the case of Kimeltuwe.

RV: On what topics do you plan to focus during the week that you'll manage the @ActLenguas Twitter account?

En las actividades que se realizarán en el marco del año de las lenguas indígenas en Chile y Argentina por el mapudungun.

SM: I'll focus on the activities related to the Mapudungun language that will be carried out within the framework of the Year of the Indigenous Languages ​​in Chile and Argentina.

RV: What are the main motivations for your digital activism for your language?

Principalmente apuntar a contribuir al proceso de generación de nuevos hablantes y a la difusión de la lengua en espacios donde su presencia es reducida. Esto con el fin de apuntar a entregar derechos lingüísticos a los hablantes y a los jóvenes a quienes se les negó el aprendizaje de la lengua mapuche como lengua materna por el contexto reciente de colonización en Chile y Argentina. Mi motivación es la justicia sociolingüística para mi pueblo.

SM: My main aim is to contribute to generating new speakers and to the diffusion of the language in spaces where it has a limited presence. The goal is to deliver linguistic rights to speakers and young people who were denied learning the Mapuche language as their mother tongue in the recent context of colonization in Chile and Argentina. My motivation is sociolinguistic justice for my people.

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