A new study has found that up to 1500 languages are at risk of disappearing by the end of the century

The research, conducted by the Australian National University (ANU) and The University of Queensland, found of the roughly 7000 languages spoken around the world, many were under threat due to only being spoken by elders.

ANU Professor Lindell Bromham said it was a “frightening statistics”

“If we don’t act to help preserve those languages for future generations, then within a generation many of those will be lost,” she said on 6PR Mornings.

“For example, in Australia we had over 250 indigenous languages a few centuries ago.

“Today, there’s only about 40 of those that are actively spoken, but of those, only about a dozen are being actively learnt by the children in the community.

“So we really need to support communities to keep those chains of transmission strong, to keep kids learning the languages, to keep them alive and strong for future generations.”

Press PLAY to hear the full interview below