Katrina Irso is the only known person fluent in Ngu.

卡特里娜-伊爾索（Katrina Irso）是目前已知的唯一能說流利努語的人。

It's one of a group of indigenous South African languages all but stamped out by decades of colonialism and apartheid.

幾十年的殖民主義和種族隔離使南非本土語言幾乎絕跡。

But at 90 years old, Irso doesn't relish being its sole protector.

但是，90 歲高齡的伊爾索並不樂於成為它唯一的保護者。

Ngu was spoken by one of many hunter-gatherer groups that populated southern Africa before the arrival of European colonisers.

在歐洲殖民者到來之前，南部非洲有許多狩獵採集群體，恩古語就是其中之一。

These indigenous people spoke dozens of languages in the San family, many of which have gone extinct.

這些原住民使用數十種桑語族語言，其中許多已經滅絕。

As a child, Irso says, people mocked Ngu as an ugly language.

伊爾索說，小時候，人們嘲笑阮語是一種醜陋的語言。

Instead, she spoke Afrikaans, the language promoted by South Africa's white minority rulers.

相反，她講南非白人少數統治者推廣的南非荷蘭語。

Later in life, she realised the importance of preserving her mother tongue.

後來，她意識到保護母語的重要性。

She started teaching Ngu to local children and opened a school with her granddaughter and language activist Claudia Snyman.

她開始教當地兒童學習阮語，並與孫女、語言活動家克勞迪婭-斯尼曼（Claudia Snyman）一起開辦了一所學校。

But the school property was vandalised during the global health crisis and now lies abandoned.

但在全球衛生危機期間，學校的財產遭到破壞，現在已被遺棄。

Snyman says her grandmother's health has been poor recently and she fears that if Irso dies, her work to protect the language will have been in vain.

斯奈曼說，她祖母最近身體不好，她擔心如果伊爾索去世，她保護語言的工作就白費了。

Irso has two living sisters, but they do not speak Ngu.

伊爾索有兩個在世的姐妹，但她們不會說阮語。

She does not know anyone else who does, save for the family members and children to whom she's taught a few words and phrases.

除了家人和孩子，她不認識其他會說英語的人，她只教過他們一些單詞和短語。

At a recent ceremony at the University of Cape Town, she was awarded an honorary doctorate for the work she is doing to preserve the language and culture.

在開普敦大學最近舉行的一次典禮上，她被授予榮譽博士學位，以表彰她為保護語言和文化所做的工作。

I love my language, I love Ngu very much, that's why I don't want to die, I want to continue to live Ngu.

我愛我的語言，我非常愛 Ngu，所以我不想死，我想繼續生活在 Ngu。

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欲瞭解更多聯合國視頻，請訪問 www.un.org